


Cloudy Skies

by Solar_Dragon21



Category: Gorillaz
Genre: Domestic Violence, F/M, Language, Magic, Psychological Torture, Psychological Trauma, Satanism, Supernatural - Freeform, Torture, Violence, mindgames, post phase 3
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:20:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 29,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25681213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Solar_Dragon21/pseuds/Solar_Dragon21
Summary: The Black Clouds aren't done with Murdoc Niccals just yet, and the head of the criminal organization wants the man's head on a platter. Can the man survive being in the cross hairs of his enemies once more or will it finally come crashing down on him and his band?Post Phase 3
Relationships: Murdoc Niccals/Original Female Character(s), Noodle/Stuart "2D" Pot
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is more of an interim story and takes place between Plastic Love and Plastic Love: New Horizons

**Chapter 1**

**212 Wobble St.**

The sound of a large green garbage truck picking up the week's trash broke the morning silence of Wobble Street. Small sedans and compact cars lined both sides of the street, their front and rear windows glistening with dew, and awaiting their respective owners for the drive to work. But there was one car that stood out and it was parked in front of 212 Wobble Street, home to the Gorillaz. It was a black American muscle car with a white rag top with white stars painted on the driver and passenger side doors. Inside was white patent leather seats and the dash was modified to include a CD player and satellite radio. The particular vehicle belonged to one Murdoc Niccals, the bassist and leader of the band. He, 2D, Noodle, Russel, and Rei had all come back from the now destroyed Plastic Beach after fighting a group of pirates called the Black Cloud and the Boogieman only months ago. It was a hard fought battle but none of them escaped unscathed. Some scars, both physical and mental were still healing but the mental scars would take more time.

Even though the band had money, they all pooled some of their resources to put a down payment on the house that included five bedrooms, three and a half baths, kitchen, living room, a small backyard, and a basement. One of the requirements for living in the home was that all occupants had to work. Of course Murdoc didn't like that idea, so he told the realtor that he ran a radio show from the place while the others had to go and look for jobs. 2D somehow (and ironically) got a job at the Sudden Impact Driving School, Noodle worked at a bistro, Russ a music shop, and Rei was working at the London School of Art museum and was also taking classes there so she could finish getting her degree since she had stopped and went with Murdoc to Plastic beach about two and a half years ago.

Currently inside, the place was silent until the snooze alarm on Rei's phone woke her up signaling the sign of a new day. Slowly opening her eyes, she reached over for her phone and shut the sound off not wanting to wake the man sleeping next to her. She didn't want to leave the warmth of the bed nor her musician. Laying there for a few moments and looking around the dark room, Rei then removed the green arm that was draped across her waist. Getting up, she went to her dresser, grabbed a pair of underclothes, and trudged into the bathroom closing the door behind her. Stripping off her pajamas, she turned on the shower waiting for the water to get warm. Putting her hair up in a bun, Rei took a quick glimpse at her reflection in the mirror, the love bite she sustained on her neck a few nights back was almost gone. She stepped into the shower, the warm water feeling clean and crisp on her skin. Rei enjoyed the feeling of it for a few minuets before soaping up and washing her body. After feeling satisfied, she turned the water off and stepped out, and dried off. She stepped back into the bedroom then dressed. Quickly doing her hair, Rei headed down to the kitchen where the smell of sausage, bacon, and coffee assaulted her nose when she reached the second landing. Russ was up and cooking as he did almost every morning.

When Rei reached the kitchen, she found 2D sitting at is usual spot at the table and Russ standing over a skillet of frying meat. "Morning guys."

"Mo'nin' luv." the singer smiled at her.

"Morning Rei."

Araiya went over to the dish rack and grabbed a mug then poured some coffee in it and sat down at her own usual spot at the table which was next to Stu and Murdoc's seat which was at the head of the table. She took a couple slices of toast from the plate of bread that was in the middle of the table and spread some orange marmalade onto them. The percussionist put two plates down in front of his friends then made his own plate and joined them in eating.

"How's your taxidermy project going?" Rei took a bite from her toast.

"Good. I got the dog stuffed now all I need to do is put the skin back on and add some accessories. I know the owner will be proud of my work."

Russel worked at a music shop on Mondays thru Thursdays, but on Friday and Saturday he worked at a local taxidermist shop. Today was Friday.

"I still fink it weird that people stuff their pets. I fink it would be easier to just bury or cremate them."

"Some people don't know how or want to physically let go 'D. It's their way of closure strange as it may seem."

"Ohayō everyone." Noodle appeared at the door wearing a smile. There was a collective reply from the others as she fixed her plate and sat down next to Rei. "So, I see Murdoc is not up yet." she gave a side glance to the woman she considered a big sister.

"What?" Rei caught the glance. "We all know the man isn't an early riser."

"But we all know he'd rise early if you asked him too." Russ chuckled.

"Yeah, we all know 'e secretly worships the ground yew walk on."

"The open secret's been there ever since you two began dating."

"And it'll stay an open secret in my house." a familiar deep, gruff voice reached their ears.

The four turned their heads to see Murdoc standing in the archway. He was wearing a pair of denim Levis, his boots, and his inverted cross hung around his neck. As usual he was shirtless. Flicking 2D on his ear as he made his way to the coffee pot, the man grabbed a mug from the rack and took a bottle of whiskey from one of the cabinets. He poured himself a decent cup full then poured some of the liquor into it and took a sip. Murdoc filled a plate with the remaining breakfast from the skillet and sat down at his place at the head of the table.

"Well his highness decided to take the stairs this morning." Snorted Russel.

"Shut it Lards."

"Why don't ya get the fing fixed or get a new one installed?" 2D asked referring the the chair lift.

"Cause, I don't want to spend the money on either option unless I have to. My chair has a few good runs left."

"Man, it'll malfunction like Cyborg Noodle did then toss you on ya ass from the top floor." Said Russel.

"Least it won't try to kill me."

"Falling down five flights of steps can potentially kill you."

As the bickering between the bassist and drummer continued Rei and 2D finished their breakfast before the others since their job and classes started earlier. Rei went up to the living room to get her book bag and met the singer at the front door. They always took the train to and from work together since the driving school and university were only a few blocks away from one another. Leaving from the house and into the occasional sunshine that graced the city of London the two made their way to the Underground stop that was a couple block away and boarded the train on time.

Across the street leaning against a tree smoking a cigarette, was a man that was about to unceremoniously crash into the lives living in the place he was staring at. He smiled revealing crooked yellowing teeth and took one final drag from his cigarette which he put out on the bark and tossed it to the ground. Soon he'd make his move and get paid, but first he'd have to lure them and his little brother into a false sense of security. 


	2. Windmill, Windmill for the Land

**Chapter 2**

**Windmill, Windmill for the Land**

It had been only three months since the five moved into their new home and all were adjusting quite well. Only Murdoc, Rei, and 2D were still getting their land legs fully back into gear. Nothing was weird or out of the ordinary for the group since they had been back and that was saying something considering that weirdness and strange things always surrounded them. Of course some of the block thought they were interesting to say the least. I mean it's not every day you see a man with green skin, a man that's 6'2'' with pitch black eyes and azure hair, a man large man with milky eyes, a woman with short violet hair, and a woman that played bass with the greatest of ease. So it was one Saturday afternoon when the five were coming back from enjoying a nice day at the near by park that Noodle took notice of the people standing on the sidewalk on the other side of the street or on the curb pointing and looking up at an object.  
  
Soon the others took notice and Murdoc was the first to speak. "What are they starin' at?"  
  
"Don't know." Russel shrugged his shoulders taking a glance at the people. "Must be something in the sky."  
  
2D had looked up and squinted. He could see an object floating in the sky but couldn't make out what it was because of the tree branches being in the way. Stepping out into the middle of the street, he soon saw what the comotion was about. A shiver when up his spine and flashbacks of Feel Good Inc. and El Manana passed thru his mind. "Um, guys I fink ya should see fis..." he pointed to the sky.  
  
The four stepped out to where the vocalist was standing and followed his finger where they saw a ghost from their past. A collective gasp past through the members and no doubt that flashbacks happened amongst them. All were shocked but none more so than Noodle as she stared at the thing she thought she lost a long time ago. The thing that she thought died along with her childhood that fateful day.  
  
There it was half destroyed, her floating island. The thing was anchored to the house by a long chain with the anchor itself hooked underneath the gutter.  
"'Ow are we to get up there?" 2D scratched his head.  
  
"I wanna know how it got here." Murdoc was lighting up a cigarette. "Is this a replica or what? And don't look at me because this isn't my doing."  
  
Something sparkling on their front door caught Rei's eye and she went to go check it out. It was a single sheet of shimmering rainbow stationary folded up neatly and taped on the door with the words _'To Noodle'_ scribbled in fancy handwriting on the front. Taking it off she walked back over to her friends. "Hey look at this."  
  
The band members crowded around her. Just like the outside, the actual letter was in the same handwriting.  
  
 _ **'To Noodle,  
  
I have returned what you have so wrongly lost. The materials and supplies to finish building the windmill and island are on it and I'm sure you and your friends will find joy in rebuilding it. There will be a use for it again one day I'm sure. I'll be around from time to time checking up on you all and if you ever need me, just give me a unique whistle.  
  
Sincerely,  
  
The Evangelist  
  
P.S.  
As to how you'll get up there Murdoc, I will be sending something in the mail that Russel can eat so he can grow to giant size.'**_  
  
"When do you want to get working on it Noods?" Rei looked at her.  
  
"Let me have some time to think then I'll let you know." Noodle was still staring at it.

A week passed before Noodle gave her answer and currently, she was sitting on one of the steel beams welding another one in front of her. The sounds of hammers, drills, and power saws came from other parts of the island. Of course it bought on a lot of attention from the neighboring blocks but the band didn't care. They were surprised that the media didn't catch wind but they were grateful because all of them did not want the attention.  
  
Murdoc had paid a visit to Damon and Jamie so they could have more hands to work.

The bassist stood in front of the windmill holding the blueprints he found on the workman's bench when they first got up there. "A little lower on that second sail lards."  
Russel who was currently in his giant form (a box of assorted candy was delivered with instruction on how to eat them) straightened out the wooden sail and put it in its slot locking it in place. Araiya and Jamie were setting the glass into the latticed window frames which the bassist wood stained the day before, while 2D and Damon were putting together the fantail. The group agreed to work on the island every other day and every weekend and knew it would take months before they would see the completed project.  
  
When the sun dipped below the horizon Gorillaz called it quits. Russel lowered them all down to the house where Damon and Jamie said their goodbyes. The drummer then at the piece of candy that would make him normal sized again. In between construction, Noodle would spend time up there reminiscing about when she first got it and how she and 2D would spend time just sitting looking up at the stars. Little memories were powerful, and she realized that she had risen from the ashes and was stronger than before.

* * *

It took four and a half months for the floating island to be completed and Gorillaz decided to have a private celebration upon it. Lights were hung in the newly planted trees, draped over the door, a hanging from the island, and the roof of the windmill. The two guitarists were sitting on the grass looking at the city.  
  
"We did a really good job putting the island back together." Rei took a sip of her lemonade.  
  
"I agree."  
  
"How do you feel now that's it's back and restored?"  
  
"Mixed emotions still. I never thought this would happen." the woman ran her hand over the newly laid grass.  
  
"If there was a chance, would you want to use it in a music video for the third time?"  
  
"Could not say. The fans were as just attached to this place as much as I, and it would be a nice surprise to bring the island back given the opportunity."  
  
"The choice would be ultimately up to you Noods."  
  
After the party ended Noodle and 2D remained on the island. The singer stood behind her, his arms wrapped around her waist.  
  
"I remember when we used ta spend time up 'ere alone."  
  
"Mm, so do I." Noodle leaned back into his embrace. "A lot of memories."  
  
"I'd like to make new ones." 2D turned Noodle to face him and he was smiling.  
  
"So would I." Noodle leaned in closer.  
  
The two musicians' lips met in a tender kiss. Unlike Murdoc and Rei's relationship, theirs were a secret. They weren't ready to reveal it yet plus they knew that Russel may have a fit if he knew so letting the drummer down easy would be a bit of a task.

Nobody knew that the island and it's new additions would come in handy when another bad presence would shake up the Gorillaz lives.  
  
To end the night, Noodle and Stu sang the chorus from Feel Good Inc.  
  
 _Windmill, windmill for the land.  
Turn forever hand in hand  
Take it all in on your stride  
It is sinking, falling down  
Love forever love is free  
Let's turn forever you and me  
Windmill, windmill for the land  
Is everybody in?_


	3. The Other Niccals

**Chapter 3**

**The Other Niccals**

Hannibal Niccals was a weasel. A no good, womanizing, cheating, bullying, lying weasel and that was just a light description. The man had many children spread around Stoke-on-Trent and other parts of the surrounding Staffordshire area. He'd bully his youngest kids out of their allowance or lunch money so he could buy liquor or spend it on the strip club, or ladies of the night. Due to his upbringing he ususally bitter and was always one to cause trouble but so was his little brother Murdoc. Hannibal had always beat the shorter man up when they were younger but laid off when his brother fought back hard. The last time he had seen Murdoc was back in 1997 when he had left Stoke in his Winnebago then again four years later when he saw his baby brother on the telly in a music video playing his red and white flying V bass guitar along with a blue ghost and three other strange people. He watched as his brother and band win awards. Then four and a half years later, he saw Murdoc's mug on the front of Gorillaz second album and win even more music awards. Hannibal didn't think lighting could strike three times, but when 2010 came around and Plastic Beach hit shelves, he was floored once more and was quite surprised that Murdoc was on the run and hiding from his enemies by living in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on a island made up of pink plastic.

Hannibal couldn't believe it. How can the short bastard leave Stoke and become famous and not tell or share any of the wealth he thought. He was family and as far as he was concerned, he deserved part of the fortune. The tall man did read Rise of the Ogre and was outraged that Murdoc really didn't mention him at all. But he did learn that his little brother did get involved with some people he shouldn't have and ran away to live in the middle of the ocean until the heat died down. Then one day while he was at his usual pub, he was approached by two men asking him to come with them. At first Hannibal refused but then one of them told him that it had to do with his brother and that if he had listened to the offer their boss made, he'd get paid handsomely. Hans's ears perked up immediately at the mention of money, and followed the men out to a waiting car where he was driven to a very tall column like building that reached all the way up into the clouds. He was escorted to the top floor where he was taken to an office where he met with a very mysterious man.

This man sat in the shadows of his office in a big leather chair. The only thing that was visible was the ember from his cigar and the glint from his inverted silver cross. He explained to Hannibal that he wanted him to lure his brother and band into a false sense of security so he could strike and finish Murdoc off, and he'd pay him handsomely if the task was completed. Hannibal, not so easily trusting this man asked who he really was.

"I'm the leader of the gang that Murdoc and his friends thought he gotten rid of back at Point Nemo." was all the stranger replied. "So are you going to do it?"

The elder Niccals sat back in his seat and asked how much he'd be paid. The man snapped his fingers and one of his bodyguards bought over a briefcase, sat it on the desk and opened it revealing a load of cash that amounted to one million Pounds. At that, Hannibal's eyes widened then he sat forward in his chair asking what the man he wanted him to do.

So now in charge of running one of the man's casino's in London, Han was going to ask his brother if he wanted to join him as a partner. Walking up the steps, he rang the doorbell of the brick house. Hearing a voice answer and footsteps coming near, the door opened.

Rei was the one to answer the door. "Can I help you?"

Giving the curvy woman a quick up and down glance, Hannibal smirked and put on his best face and act. "Yeah love, is Murdoc home?"

"No sorry, he's out at the moment. May I ask who you are?"

"His brother Hannibal. And you must be Rei."

The keytarist frowned not knowing really what to do. Murdoc had told her stories about what his brother did to him when he was younger. Maybe he was here to make amends, but how did he know her name? "Oh well um would you like to come in and wait? He shouldn't be out much longer."

"Sure doll, I'd love to."

Araiya stepped aside and let the tall man in, and led him to the kitchen where Noodle was getting a soda from the fridge. She turned to face the visitor.

"Hallo, who may you be?"

"Murdoc's brother older Hannibal and you must be Noodle." He held out his hand which the guitarist took and he shook it smiling.

"Would you like something to drink?"

"I'll take a beer if you have one."

Noodle took a beer from the fridge, opened it, and handed it to him. Soon 2D came down and met the man as well. The singer was a bit spooked at how Hannibal knew his name, but ended up brushing it off. The four talked until they heard the front door opened and the voices of Russel and Murdoc sounded in the hall.

"...Geez Lards, you didn't have to take half the freezer. Other people have to eat y'know."

"They were on sale Mudz and you're one to talk. Two bags of booze and a six pack."

"It was on sale." Murdoc gave a toothy grin.

The two men walked into the kitchen stopping at the sight of Hannibal.

Murdoc's face contorted into anger. "What the bloody fuck are you doin' here?!? How did you find me?"

"I'm fine little brother how are you?" Hannibal smirked.

"Get the hell out of my house. Now."

"Mudz he's here for a reason." Russel sat the groceries on the counter. ''Hear him out."

"No. Money's the reason and he's not getting one single Pound." Retorted the bassist folding his arms across his chest.

"I'm not here for money, I'm here to ask you somethin'."

"You've got nothin' ta offer me. Now for the last time, get out."

"Oh that's where you're wrong Mudz. I have a lot to offer. You see I recently became in charge of this new casino in the city and I need a business partner. So I thought, why not ask my brother. It's the least I can do since he was sending me ashtrays from The Playboy Mansion."

The bassist gave a humorless laugh. "You in charge of a casino? Pfft, that's a laugh."

"I'm serious. I have a friend that's very well off and he wanted somebody to run it and he came to me, asked, and I said yes. I'm just trying to make a living just like you a since making music isn't really my thing. You'll get fifty percent if you take my offer."

"Fifty percent?" 2D's damaged eyes widened.

"Yup and you all will get exclusive privileges like free drinks, a permanent VIP lounge, invited to exclusive private parties." Replied the elder Niccals to the singer.

"Tell me how much you and your "friend" have swindled the players." Asked Murdoc.

"Not a damn six pence. It's all legit."

"Bullshit."

"If you don't believe me, why don't you come and check it out yourself. Come to the grand opening party next weekend." He stood and sat the now empty beer bottle on the table. "In the meantime, I have some business to attend to." Hannibal took a card from his inside jacket pocket and handed it to Russel. "See you all next Saturday. I can let myself out." He walked from the kitchen and out the front door closing it behind him.

Murdoc scowled even harder and left the room with Rei following him.

"That was interesting." Rei watched as the bassist pulled a cigarette from his jean pocket and lit it up with his silver Zippo lighter.

"I don't trust him one damned bit Tiger."

"He sounded honest."

"Ha! You think he sounded honest? Really Rei? You can usually tell when someone is lyin' ta ya. Losin' your touch woman?"

Rei wrinkled her nose. "No but I do have mixed feelings 'bout this. He did know my name before I could even tell him."

"That should've been a red flag right there." sighed Murdoc. "He's up to somethin'."

"Then go to the party and find out what. You're known to do that when your curiosity is peaked."

The bassist thought it over for a few seconds. He could go, get information, find out who this so called "friend" is or if he exists, expose Hannibal as a fraud, and send the man packing or back to prison. "Fine, I'll go. After I'm done with him, I'm gonna send Hannibal back to Stoke with his tail tucked firmly between his legs." 


	4. Watchful Eyes

**Chapter 4**

**Watchful Eyes**

“Why are we even doing this?”

“Because we were assigned to do it.”

“It's boring, we're one of his top people and we shouldn't be on some lowly spying mission. A couple of the new recruits could be doing this.”

“He has a reason and I'm not one to question him and either should you.”

The woman in the driver's seat scoffed at her partner's pathetic attempt to scold her. Returning her eyes to the store that was across the street she sighed in boredom. “You see anything Nate?”

“No.”

Sitting in their black BMW, the man and woman were part of the Black Cloud, two of the highest members of the gang. Both were ruthless when it came to doing their jobs. If the boss wanted someone snubbed out they were the ones to do it. One would play the bait while the other took the kill. No one ever survived their attack. The two were given the order by their boss to spy on the Gorillaz because he wanted to know their everyday routines so when it came time to take action against Murdoc he could use the man's friends as collateral just in case the bassist tried to run. They were basically assassins.

The streets and and sidewalks of London were crowded with people doing their weekend shopping or just hanging out in the city. It was a cool spring afternoon with a bit of wind blowing thru the trees and buildings, and as usual the sky was filled with gray clouds that threatened rain so in every hand that walked down the street carried an umbrella and every body had on a raincoat.

Finally things began to pick up and the man in the passenger's seat watched as the two women exited the shop they were watching. Both were laughing and talking as they carried a few bags.

“About time.” the woman sat up in her seat as her gaze became more focused on the two people who were now waiting at the bus stop.

“They're pretty.”

“I don't think they're your type. You go for the more simple minded type of woman.”

The man looked at his partner flatly. “Unlike you, you get your men drunk before sleeping with them.”

“Those are the ones who I know I'll never be seeing again.”

“Right...”

Unaware of the two people in the black car watching them Rei and Noodle walked out from the store finishing up their afternoon shopping. They didn't know they were being watch and soon would have tracking devices unknowingly attached to their person. As they neared Stylo in the car park, two men who were acting like they were not paying attention “accidentally” bumped into the guitarists.

“Hey!” Noodle and Rei exclaimed in unison.

“Oh my! We're so sorry.” said one of the men, who was short with spiky blonde hair. His hand went to her back and since the device which was slightly smaller than a button, he slid it under the collar of her raincoat.

The other man who was tall and had his long brown hair pulled back into a ponytail did the same to Noodle.

“It's fine.No harm done.” Noodle replied as she readjusted the bags in her hands.

The women watched the men go then continued to Stylo. The men walked out of the car park and to the black car giving the signal that the job was done ad kept on walking.

“Turn on the tracker.”

The man in the passenger seat turned it on using his cell phone. Two green blips appeared on the screen indicating the tagged girls. Both started to move which signaled Noodle and Rei going home.

“How are we gonna tag the men?”

“When they come to the casino for the opening. We'll be taking care of that. You handle the singer and drummer while I take care of the bassist.

* * *

Returning to base, they checked in with their boss as they were instructed to do after the job had been completed. The boss was currently in the meeting room looking over papers pertaining to the five people he was after.

“Job's been completed sir.” the woman saluted him.

“Excellent. I know you two know what's next in the plan?”

“Yes.” the man replied.

The boss nodded and lifted his head to look at the assassins. His eyes were steel gray and looked like they had seen a lot in life, and most of it wasn't good. A visible scar went across his left eye. He was a handsome man with broad shoulders and chiseled features. The man's deep voice was music to a woman's ears and could command a room with a firm and harsh tone. Despite his external features, inside was a cold and calculating man who always got what he wanted. He was always present when a target would be eliminated because he took pride along with a sick sense of enjoying watching the life leave their eyes and their souls leave the bodies. He was indifferent to the damage he'd leave behind in some cases. This time he was really going to enjoy seeing people die.

Murdoc Niccals was a thorn in his side. Managing to kill off his under boss and his army was previously unheard of. The handful of remaining pirates who managed to survive reported back to him telling the man what had happened. Told him about the strange fish bowl headed being they encountered and how she helped defeat them and the Boogieman. After relaying their stories, the boss had them all killed because he had no more use for them, and in his mind they had failed despite surviving.

The Black Cloud leader had heard passing rumors about the Evangelist and how she would go around helping people who needed it the most. Helping them to redeem themselves one last time before dying and plunging into whatever darkness awaited them in the afterlife. After learning about the creature helping Murdoc and he knew he had to lure the creature to him and subdue her. Take out any external help that may come.

Looking up at his henchmen, he smirked a little. “You're my best and I know you won't fail me unlike the others.”

The man nodded. “We will never fail you. You know that we always get the job done.”

“Just keep Hannibal on track to help him lure Gorillaz into my trap.”

“He's an arse.” the woman rolled her eyes. “The sleaze tried to cop a feel yesterday when I came to check on the set up of the casino's bar.”

The man snorted out a laugh.

“It's not funny. I put him in his place and he won't be messing with me again.”

Their boss just shrugged his shoulders indifferent to the incident. “You're dismissed.”

The two nodded and left the room closing the door behind them. The leader stood and walked over to the big window. The gray rain clouds slowly drifted pass as he looked down upon the city that never smiled. He remembered watching from a helicopter, a grand floating island fly and float thru the clouds with a purple headed girl with bangs covering her green eyes, wearing a black and white striped shirt, black shorts, and knee high boots enjoying the sunset unaware of the violent fate that awaited her. He even watched her go down in flames that day also because he was the one that ordered the hit. Destroy the heart of the family, destroy the glue that held them all together. The man was mildly surprised that Noodle had survived despite the mental and physical scars she'd sustained. And once again the family was whole. Maybe it was time for those horrible dreams to plague her mid once more. The window had fogged up with dew. He drew a symbol and said a few words which made the symbol glow red.

“She will lose herself within her mind and never come back.” 


	5. Reluctant Partnership

**Chapter 5**

**Reluctant Partnership**

The sound of the afternoon's mail sliding thru the front door caught 2D's attention as he was on his way to the kitchen to make himself a snack. Going over, he picked up the pile of different colored envelopes and sorted through them. Bills in everybody's name, advertisements for some inane product, and coupons made up the pile until the singer came upon a brown envelope addressed to him from the real estate company that they were renting the house from. He walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table to open the envelope. Upon taking the piece of paper out, he unfolded it and read what was written. As the man read, his onyx eyes widened at what he was reading.

“Uh-oh...” 2D stood up from his seat and went to go look for Murdoc who was the only other person in the house at the moment. He found the green man up in the living room laying across the couch watching some game show on the television while drinking from a half bottle of rum. “Murdoc we 'ave a problem.” he walked over and stood in front of him.

“Can't you see I'm busy faceache?” Murdoc never took his eyes off the flat screen TV.

“It's serious.” the singer waved the paper in front of him.

The bassist shifted his eyes from the telly glancing at the white paper in the other man's hand. “What's that? Some bloke found your brain or somethin'?” he chuckled.

Stu frowned thinking it wasn't funny. “No, it's about the house and us living here. I don't think we'll be able to much longer.”

“What?” Murdoc sat up and took the paper from 2D's hand and read it himself. A scowl formed on his face. “Are they serious? Why didn't they tell us this sooner? Ain't it illegal to do this?”

2D humped his shoulders not knowing the answer. “Ya should call the realtor and talk to 'im.”

“I'll do one better. Go get your jacket and come on. We're going down to his office.” Murdoc got up from the couch and went to go and get his own jacket.

2D turned the TV off, and followed the man from the room going downstairs to fetch his jacket. The bassist was already at the door with his own, and was opening the front door. After locking up, both men got into Stylo and Murdoc drove to the realtor's office. Parking in front of the red bricked building, 2D and Murdoc walked into the place to find boxes being packed by the few employees that worked there. The bassist walked up to a small man in glasses.

“Oi! What's goin' on here?” He asked.

“We've all been sacked.”

“Why?”

“Some bloke bought the company we were given our walking papers.”

“Who bought your boss out?”

The man shrugged his shoulders. “Don't know.”

Murdoc sighed. “Where's your boss?”

“In his office.”

“C'mon faceache” he turned on his heel going down to the end of the narrow hall where the office was located.

The door was wide open and two male voices could be heard conversing. The man who now formerly owned his business was leaning against his empty desk talking to a man dressed in a dark blue pin stripped suit. Upon seeing the man, Murdoc had no trouble interrupting the two.

“What the bloody fuck is this Ralph?!?!” he shook the notice in the man's face.

Ralph looked at the paper then at Murdoc. “I no longer own my company which means I have no control over what's being sent to you. You're going to have to talk to the man who's bought the company.”

“Who is he?”

“An investor who works for the London Stock Exchange.”

“His name?”

“Can't tell you.”

“Bullshit.” growled Murdoc stepping closer to the man.

The man in the blue suit stepped towards Murdoc and 2D, despite being nervous and not knowing what would go down stepped forward too to try and protect his friend, but Ralph held up a hand signaling do the tall muscle man to stop.

“He doesn't want his name revealed until he's settled with his business.”

“I know he can't raise the rent.”

“He can and my suggestion to you and your friends is that you all work overtime or get another job that pays better than the ones they have now. Maybe even find other places to live” Ralph gave a little smirk. “The two ladies that live with you are damn pretty so I don't know why they're working at a museum and a bistro. I mean there are plenty of clubs here in the city.”

At that the bassist stepped forward again ready to strike, and 2D got in front of him to stop Murdoc from throttling the former realtor. He gently pushed the bassist to the door, and turned to Ralph. “You've said the wrong fing an' the only reason I'm holdin' him back is because you're not worth his time. We'll find away to keep up with the rent.” The singer led Murdoc from the office and out of the building.

Once at the car, Murdoc crumpled the paper I his fist letting out a low groan. 2D frowned at him. “We're gonna have ta tell the others 'bout this.”

“No shit Sherlock.”

“Maybe you should consider your brother's offer.”

Murdoc gave Stu a look. “No.”

* * *

“Gorillaz assemble!” Murdoc called the others from the kitchen.

The remaining four housemates walked into the kitchen where they found Murdoc standing at the table while 2D sat in a chair. They all saw the look on his face and knew he wasn't in a good mood.

“What's got you in a foul mood?” Russel looked at the bassist with a raised eyebrow.

“Faceache got a letter in the post today and we've got a big problem. Seems like our realtor sold his business to another person ad he or she has raised our rent.” 

“What? Why?”

“Don't know. As of now, we need to make more money to stay here or we'll be kicked out.”

“How much is it now?” asked Noodle.

“700 Pounds.”

“Shit that's 200 more.” said Russel scratching his bald head.

“What are we gonna do?” Rei looked at her man.

The singer looked at Murdoc. “It's the only way to stay in this 'ouse Murdoc.”

“No dullard. Just no.”

“But it's the only way. I don't want to split up again when we jus' got back togev'er.”

“Murdoc, what's he talking about?”asked the drummer.

“To take up my brother's offer about the casino.”

“Maybe it would be the wise thing to do Murdoc. I must agree with Stu, I don't want to split up again.” Noodle frowned. “It's too soon.”

“How bad would it be?”

The bassist snorted. “You don't know Hannibal like I do. He'll cheat you out of all your money. Did that to me on a number of occasions, and that so called casino he's runnin' is probably crooked like he is.”

“You don't know tha'. He came 'ere offerin' an olive branch to ya. Why don't ya check it our for yourself? I know you Murdoc, you don't take anyfin' at face value. You're the type to check stuff out.” 2D shot a glance at the others who were nodding their heads in agreement.

“He's right babe.” said Rei.

Murdoc looked at Rei scrunching up his crooked nose. Even he had to admit inside that splitting up would be too soon. He didn't want to lose his friends again. They could all live on the floating island for awhile, but that could get tiring and where the hell would they all sleep? Where would they dock the thing when they wanted to get off? Can't certainly hook it to any building. Plus windmills only have one room. Looking at all the faces which almost had a pleading look on them, he sighed and reluctantly agreed.

“Alright fine, I'll consider Hans' offer, but if he fucks up I'm hauling his ass to the police station myself.”

The four musicians looked at one another the at Murdoc. “Deal.”

* * *

Saturday came and the Gorillaz were getting ready to go to the casino. It was to be a semi-casual attire affair for the opening night and luckily the usually rainy spring weather gave way to a clear night. The radio was at a decent level as Murdoc drove to the place. Not much was said between the five other than the occasional comment about a commercial.

As he was looking out the window from the backseat, 2D spotted two lights in the sky moving back and forth. “Hey, look at that.”

Noodle looked out her widow seeing them too. “Show lights. Think that's where the casino is?”

Rei looked at them as well. “We'll find out when we get there.”

Twenty minuets later they arrived to the place. The building itself was flashy. Neon lights flashed on and off in a pattern while the show lights that 2D, Noodle, and Rei saw moved back and forth. There were plenty of black taxis and limos along with people stepping out of fancy sport cars and sedans. A valet service was parking the cars. When the bassist pulled up to the front entrance, a teenage boy came to the driver's side and opened the door for him while another opened the passenger side door so Rei and the others could get out. Russel looked at the name of the place, 21 Aces.

“Scratch or dent my car, I'll break your pimply little face.” Murdoc growled at the kid as he handed him the keys. He led the way into the casino where the five followed the crowd to the main room. Stopping their tracks, they stood in awe of it all. The room was lit up with purple and gold accent lighting. Everything was divided up into sections. The poker, black jack, and baccarat tables were in the room they were standing in, to the right was the slot machine room, to the left was a room containing two craps tables. On the back wall was the name of the casino in red neon lighting. Next to the craps table room were two automatic sliding glass doors that no doubt led to other parts of the casino.

“So you'll accept my offer right?” Hannibal's voice bought Gorillaz from their trance and they turned to look at him. The tall man was dressed in all black and wore a blood red silk vest, and was flanked by a man and woman. The same man and woman who had spied on Rei and Noodle.

Murdoc looked at his brother with a slight grimace. “Don't know. Depends on what you have to offer me.”

“Then let's go up to my office. Adam here can show the others the rest of the place.”

Adam stepped away from Hannibal and his partner Karina, and led the rest of the group through out the casino while Hannibal led Murdoc to the lift that went up to the offices. Stepping inside, Karina pressed the button for the sixth floor. While in the lift Murdoc glanced at the woman who smiled back at him.

“So, I heard through the grapevine that you got into some trouble with a gang some years back.” said Hannibal breaking the silence.

“I may have and I took care of it.”

“I know. I know about Plastic Beach and how you fled there to escape them for a while until they caught up with you. I'm quite surprised that you're still alive. That gang is notorious for killing people that owe them.”

The bassist looked at his brother. “I survived and took care of business. They won't be coming after me anymore. I've got protection.”

“What kind of protection?”

“Nothing that concerns you.”

“Fair 'nough.”

The lift reached the sixth floor and with a ping the doors opened. The three walked down a carpeted hall where rooms with black doors flanked both sides. They reached the end of the hall where double oak doors guarded Hannibal's office. Taking a key from his pocket the man unlocked it and stepped inside. The room was simply decorated excluding the large desk that sat in the middle of the room.

“Sit.” Hans offered Murdoc a seat. “Karina, can you take the papers from the safe?”

“Sure.” she went over to the right wall and pushed in a panel that revealed a black safe. She typed in a code and took the papers out then sat them in between the two.

“Read them and tell me your answer.”

Murdoc picked up the small stack of paper and began to read them. The more he read he saw that Hannibal was actually telling the truth about him getting fifty percent of everything and that the casino was legit.

“I told you everything was legal. Would I lie to you?”

Murdoc lifted his eyes to his older brother with a deadpan expression and Hannibal gave a small chuckle.

“Okay, wrong choice of words but this I wouldn't lie to ya about. So do we have a deal?”

Murdoc put the papers down and looked at the pen that was waiting then back to his brother. He needed the money and needed to keep everyone in tact. Internally sighing he picked up the pen. “Before I sign I have one thing to say. If you majorly fuck up just once I'm calling the cops myself and have the greatest pleasure of watching you get hauled away and put in prison for the next twenty-five years. Understood?”

“Got ya.”

The bassist signed on the appropriate dotted lines and slid the papers back to Hans. Hannibal looked at the signatures and smiled. “I believe this is a fresh start to our relationship little brother.” he held out his hand.

Murdoc hesitantly shook it. “Don't expect us to be best mates. After all the shit you did to me while we were growing up...”

“Alright.”

After Hannibal put the papers back into the safe, he escorted Murdoc back down to the others where they found the four talking among themselves in one of the four bars. The bassist told them that he had accepted Hans's offer. Russel, 2D, Noodle, and Rei breathed an internal sigh of relief. They were even curious as to how this working relationship would function, much less the personal one between the two brothers. It was one of those wait and see moments.

As for putting tracking devices on Murdoc, Russel, and 2D Karina and Adam gave them all key chains that each had a different colored poker chip hanging from the end. Noodle and Rei received one too. Inside the chip were small tracking devices that worked by using the satellite in orbit and cell towers. They were activated as soon they were on each person.

For the rest of the night Gorillaz had a good time including Murdoc who loosened up at the behest of Rei and a few good strong drinks. By the early morning hours the five tiredly left the building and since Murdoc was in no condition to drive due to all the drinking he had done, Rei drove them all home.

Meanwhile, Hannibal had went back up to his office and was on his cell phone with the Black Cloud leader on the other end.

“He signed the papers.”

“Good. Just keep to the plan and everything should work out.”

“Right.”

“I find it interesting that you're handing your brother to me on a silver platter.”

“Should I care? He's been a thorn in my side since the day he was left on our dad's doorstep.”

The boss gave a deep chuckle. “Cold hearted I see.”

Hans shrugged his shoulders. “Gotta be if you want to survive.”

“Maybe you should join the Clouds.”

“Last time I was in a gang, I almost got killed so thanks but no thanks.”

“Understood.”

The two said their goodbyes and hung up. Hannibal sat back in his chair and tossed the poker chip he had in his hand up into the air and caught it. Opening his hand he saw that it landed on tails. “Well Murdoc, your life is soon about to come to an end.” 


	6. Deep into the Mind

**Chapter 6**

**Deep into the Mind**

_It was all going wrong. Horribly wrong. Those weren’t the helicopters that Murdoc hired to shoot fake bullets at the island or her. Those were real bullets and bigger helicopters. The fifteen year old girl peered from behind the wooden door to see her floating island in flames and going down quick. Dark clouds had filled the sky and the only thing she could hear were the heavy whirring of the chopper blades. She then found herself clinging to the sides of the door as the island plummeted down into the gorge. Seeing that she only had minuets to escape, Noodle quickly ran up the stair as fast as she could, grabbed the parachute that was meant for her, and jumped out the broken back window. As she fell, she watched her beloved windmill crash into the ravine below. She noticed one of the helicopters releasing a bomb and the blast of it knocked her further away from the site and into the wall of rock. Managing to land on a grassy cliff, Noodle tumbled and rolled to a stop. She wobbly got to her feet and walked to the edge of the cliff. Thick, dark smoke rose into the air and into the steel gray clouds.  
  
Noodle then managed to find herself in Kong’s bunker near the Hellhole. Voices whispered around her, saying things she couldn’t understand because they were in a tongue that she couldn’t understand. The hole glowed brighter, warmer. She called out to her family but nobody answered. No one came. She was suddenly surrounded by two large demons with glowing yellow eyes. One was boar like in appearance. Its skin a dirty pink color, his head just like a boar’s with one of its tusks broken off. The demon stood on hind legs and had hooves for feet but human hands with clawed fingers. The other was bird like. With the head and feet of a canary along with wings on its back the demon looked at its partner then to Noodle, and began to speak.  
  
“He isn’t here.”  
  
“Where is he then?”  
  
“Don’t know.”  
  
“We need to bring something back to Him or we get punished.”  
  
The pig demon looked at the guitarist. “We bring her then. She knows Murdoc.”  
  
Noodle’s eyes widened when she realized that she was about to be taken down to Hell by these two beasts. She could only try to fight them off so without warning, she started to resist but the demons power was too much for her and soon she was dragged down into the Hellhole kicking and screaming…_  
  
Sitting up and covered in a cold sweat the Japanese woman looked around the darkened room. She quickly turned the lamp on and looked down at the sleeping form of the singer who was oblivious to the world. Glancing down at her hands Noodle noticed that she was shaking. She shakily got out of bed and went into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. Her forehead was beaded with sweat and her face in a frown.  
  
“Nani…Naze yume ga modottekita?” turning on the faucet Noodle washed her face clean then dried it off. Suddenly feeling thirsty, Noodle mad her way down to the kitchen but not before stopping to see if everybody was in their rooms. The first room were Rei and Murdoc’s. Silently opening their bedroom door, she poked her head inside and saw their two sleeping forms with Murdoc gently snoring away. Closing the door Noodle went down to the next landing and opened Russel’s door. The large looming figure of her surrogate father lay in his own bed as well.  
  
Entering the kitchen she grabbed a cup from the dish rack and filled it with some cold tap water then sat at the kitchen table. With the ticking of the kitchen clock her only company, the guitarist stared at her reflection in the cup her mind still on the dream. She had those nightmares when she escaped from Hell and they had died down once she was fully reunited with her family. So why now? Why reenter her mind when there was finally peace within her? After pondering it for a while Noodle chalked it up to being a slip of the mind and it wouldn’t happen again. Looking up at the clock that Rei had designed herself, Noodle saw that it was almost three in the morning. She finished her water and went back up to bed.

* * *

Later that day, Noodle was sitting in the backyard staring at the stone bird fountain watching a couple of goldfinches bathe. Not to her surprise her dream still bothered her and she even wondered if it would start all over again. The first time she had these nightmares, Noodle hardly dared to go to sleep for fear that they would become real and she end up back down in that horrible place. A lack of sleep and constantly being paranoid didn’t make her as she felt a strong person. Noodle was quiet all through breakfast and ended up spending most of her afternoon in her room until she got tired of playing her guitar and reading. All of her friends asked if she was okay and she gave the illusion that she was fine but of course she had the feeling that the bassist knew something was up. No, she knew he knew something was off. The man was always keen like that. And to prove that point she jumped a little when she heard his voice.  
  
“You’ve been out of it all day. Locking yourself away in your room.” Murdoc was behind her puffing on his pipe.  
  
Noodle turned her head to look at him with her brow furrowed. “I didn’t lock myself in my room. You could have come by and opened it.”  
  
The bassist took a seat next to her on the bench. “And get another Game Boy or an object that's more blunt thrown at my head? I don’t think so.”  
  
Noodle giggled remembering the last time she did that. She inhaled the scent of the vanilla smoke that wafted pass her nose which actually calmed her.  
  
“You can tell me what’s on your mind.” The bassist turned his attention to the birds as well.  
  
The woman frowned. She didn’t want to burden anyone with her problem, but wasn’t that why they existed? To talk about your problems too? Even Murdoc. He was the one whom she told first about the nightmares because he had them too when he came back from Hell after his “regeneration” back in 2006.  
  
“I had a nightmare.”  
  
“A nightmare? That’s what’s bothering ya? Was it about faceache being smart?”  
  
“Murdoc.” Noodle gave the bassist a look.  
  
“Just kiddin’.”  
  
“No. I think the nightmares about Hell are coming back.”  
  
The bassist looked at the woman next to him, his face serious. “You sure?”  
  
“Do not know. I just only had one and that was last night. It has been bothering me ever since.”  
  
“What was it about?”  
  
“Me being dragged to Hell by those demons. It was like I was actually there. It felt so real.”  
  
Murdoc frowned a little. He knew that those nightmares were nothing to play around with. When he had come back from Hell himself he secluded himself away in his Winnebago more than ever and even Rei who was much needed support at the time couldn’t heal him one hundred percent. “Are you afraid that they’ll return completely?”  
  
Noodle nodded her head. “There is nothing I can do but block them out as best I can. To be honest I would like to take that dream as something that just happened to randomly pop up and will become deeply buried again.” She looked up at the sky and saw that rain clouds were gathering. “It’s going to rain again.” She changed the subject not wanting to dwell on it any longer.  
  
Murdoc looked up too getting the hint. “Yeah. Who’s makin’ dinner tonight?”

“Me.”  
  
“Well you better get in there and get to cooking. I’m starving out here.”  
  
“It would be nice if you helped make dinner once in a while.” Noodle said with a smile.  
  
“I suck at cooking, and if you’re making sushi none of that wasabi shit but I want some of those picked plums.” The bassist stood up taking his pipe from his mouth. It had gone out. “Dammit woman, you made my pipe go out.”  
  
The guitarist reached into her pants pocket and took out a lighter that belonged to 2D. Murdoc took it and re-lit his pipe.  
  
“Arigato Murdoc.”  
  
Murdoc gave a slight head nod. “No problem.”  
  
Noodle turned and went back into the house with the bassist watching her go. Both of them not knowing about the spell that had been placed on the small woman.


	7. No Solution

**Chapter 7**

**No Solution**

Murdoc sat in his little space in the basement flipping through one of his spell books looking for a way to ease the intensity of Noodle’s dreams if they did come back. The man wasn’t all about hexes, curses, and dark spells as the current book contained nothing but white magic. A few days had passed since he and Noodle had their little talk in the backyard and the girl asked him the next morning to keep their conversation a secret. He asked her if she had been dreamed again, and Noodle said no but didn’t rule anything out. Both knew it had only been three days and it was too early to tell if another nightmare would come along. As he kept flipping through the tan pages, his mind bought him back to the day it all started.  
  
 **Flashback**  
  
 _Murdoc sat on the couch staring at the color television as Cortez was perched on top of a chair adjacent to the couch. He looked up when there was a knock on the metal door. “What?”  
  
“Murdoc can I talk to you?” A fifteen year old Noodle stood outside the Winnebago waiting for the bassist to let her in. She listened as the man came to the door and opened it.  
  
“Whadda ya want?” As usual, he was shirtless.  
  
“Can I come inside?”  
  
The bassist stepped aside to let her through and closed the door behind him. Noodle greeted the bird who cawed back in reply. She sat down in the seat that was offered to her and folded her hands in her lap. The guitarist had thought long and hard about what she wanted to do, and it took three months to come up with the decision and to only tell Murdoc about what she wanted to do. And at the moment she was nervous.  
  
“Well?”  
  
The man’s gruff voice bought to girl from her thoughts. Shifting in herb seat a little, Noodle spoke up. “I want to leave the band after we complete doing what we have to for Demon Days.”  
  
Murdoc raised an unseen eyebrow at her statement. It wasn’t like her to say something like that and it kind of caught him off guard. “Why?” was all he could ask because she must have a good reason.  
  
“I want to finish living out my teenage years as normally as I can. Get of the spotlight for a while. Maybe after I’m eighteen go see the world, even go back home to Japan and live there for a length of time.”  
  
“For how long?”   
  
“I do not know. All of this has taken its toll on me. Do not get me wrong, I have enjoyed our success but I think it is time for all of us to take a break and for once start this hiatus on a good note unlike the last time.”  
  
The bassist regarded the teen girl for a few minutes. He knew that she worked probably worked harder than the rest of them and since the whole promotional leg of Demon Days was almost up why not give her what she wanted. The only thing they had left to do was one more music video to promote their last single El Manana, but so far none of them had any idea of what the music video would be about or how it would be performed. Ideas had been tossed around and none so far stuck. Maybe they all needed a break. Actually, things had been getting a bit weird within Kong. He owed a gang money and they had started to give him warning. One warning was in the form of a bullet intentionally flying past his head the other day when he was in town. He had just come out of a cigarette shop and was about to get into the Geep when the bullet went into the wooden poll in front of him. Slowing turning his head, he saw a black SUV across the street with its passenger window rolling up. Another weird happening was that 2D noticed a small red eyed demon with an inverted cross on its forehead was sitting at the front entrance desk when he had come in one evening from being out. Then one afternoon when the band was having a jam session, Rei’s amp for her bass guitar suddenly went out and the equipment was practically brand new.  
  
“Well I guess you better tell Lards and Faceache.”  
  
Noodle shook her head. “I do not want them to know that I am leaving.”  
  
“What? Why?” asked the bassist baffled.  
  
“They’ll try to stop me. Especially Russel so please keep this conversation between us.” Noodle asked.   
  
Murdoc nodded his head. “Okay.”  
  
“I think I have an idea for the El Manana music video.”  
  
“Do tell.”  
  
“Well it involves me using my floating island again…”_  
  
 **End Flashback**  
  
Setting the book down onto the table in front of him Murdoc sighed and rubbed his eyes. He didn’t think that he’d find anything to soothe the nightmares but there was no harm in trying. The white magic book that lay in front of him wasn’t the only one he owned. He had five others that contained various spells and charms and the bassist would thoroughly look through those if he couldn’t find anything in the current book. Deciding to take a break he stood from his seat and stretched, the vertebrae in his back cracking and popping. When he reached the hall a quiet house greeted his ears. Everybody was still at work he guessed. He didn’t know that Noodle had already come back from work so going up to the living room to watch some television, he saw the guitarist sleeping on the three piece sectional.  
  
The man blamed himself for what happened to her. He didn’t know about Noodle being in Hell until after he heard her calling from the Room of Brains in Kong a year later after she disappeared. The radio transition that she originally left had somehow been recorded onto the device itself and when Murdoc heard it, he was in shock and immediately gathered some things to go down there and find her. It wasn’t much he was only armed with a large hunting knife, a can of mace, and a spell book. He looked everywhere as much as he could because he knew he couldn’t face the larger, stronger demons without more backup and power. He searched for Noodle for months but when the heat got too hot he had no choice but to abandon Kong and run.  
  
Taking a colorful knitted throw cover he draped it across the woman’s body and quietly left the room. Going up to his and Rei’s room he took out the other books and sat them on the bed. He would start going through those the next day. Later at dinner time, Murdoc kept an eye on Noodle. She was talkative and showed no signs of being plagued by another nightmare but he knew that they sometimes didn’t come back to back. Sometimes the dreams would be spaced out by a few days or even a week but they always left an impact no matter how long or short.

* * *

It took a week and a half to go through all the books and unfortunately there was no solution to the problem and Noodle had another dream but it was like the last one, not as intense. Murdoc knew that they would intensify the more the dreams came. One morning he offered Noodle a ride to work on his way to the casino because he wanted to tell her what he had been up to.  
  
“Why are you giving me a ride to work?” Noodle looked at her fellow band member.  
  
“Need to talk to you 'bout somethin’.”  
  
“What?”  
  
“I’ve been trying to find a spell that would help ease the intensity of your nightmares. I know they’ll get worse.”  
  
The guitarist’s eyes widened a little. “Did you find anything?”  
  
“No.”  
  
“Oh.” She lowered her eyes to her lap.  
  
“You’re not alone in this remember that. You’ve got me, Rei, Dullard, and Tubby to stand by you. I think it would be wise if you told one other person and who you choose to tell is your choice.”  
  
“I understand.”  
  
Murdoc pulled in front of the bistro that the guitarist worked at. Noodle looked at him and smiled. Saying her thanks she got out of the car and dashed inside the place as the man looked on. He pulled away from the curb and headed to his own job. Half way there, two questions popped into his mind. What caused the dreams to all of a sudden come back and if they were purposely bought on then who or what did it? Maybe it was time to do some digging.


	8. Winged Savior

**Chapter 8**

**Winged Savior**

It was unusual to see so many ravens perched in the trees. The residents of Wobble Street couldn’t comprehend why there were so many and to be honest were quite taken aback by how they quickly accumulated with in the three days. Some people on the block were superstitious and thought a death was coming to somebody somewhere and others thought that maybe the birds got their migration pattern all wrong. Whatever the case was, the feathered beings weren’t leaving any time soon. The neighborhood also noticed that most of the birds were perched in the trees in front of 212. Another weird occurrence for the weird group of friends that lived in the brownstone.

Murdoc, before getting into Stylo looked around at the birds with curiosity in his expression. Even he didn’t know what the hell was going on and thought that either death or screwed up migration was the answer. Getting into the car he headed for the casino to man the stations since Hannibal had called last night saying that he needed a personal day and that there was work needed to be done in the office. Scoffing at his brother’s reason, he agreed to do the work and only planned to be there until traffic started to get heavy. At least the positive side of the day was him getting to have lunch with Rei.

Arriving at the nearly empty casino, only the janitorial crew and a few old people sitting at the slots gambling away half their pensions were there. He made his way up to the office and entered closing the door behind him. The bassist spotted two thick brown folders on the desk and assumed that was the work that needed to be done. Sighing he hung his jacket on the rack and sat down getting to work.

Time passed by so quickly that when the grandfather clock began to chime; the bassist was caught a little off guard. He looked at it and saw that it was time for lunch. Murdoc stretched and stood up and grabbed his jacket then headed out the door. The casino was slightly more crowded as he walked to the front door of the place. Exiting he walked to the car park, got into Stylo, and drove off to Rei’s job. Arriving he went into the university’s main courtyard where he spotted the artist sitting on a stone bench with a book in her hand.

“Always with your head in a book lately so much so that you barely pay any attention to me,” Murdoc sighed dramatically, feigning to being neglected.

Rei looked up from the book smirking. “I do pay attention to you. What do you call last night?”

“A short break.”

“That’s because I had to keep swatting your hands away from my sensitive spots and breasts.”

“Nah, you’re just easily persuaded,” Grinned the bassist.

Rei stood up and put her book into her messenger bag. “C’mon let’s go get some lunch.” She led the way to a café where the two of them sat down at a table by the window. “I see the ravens are still out there.” Rei nodded to a few that were perched on different branches of a tree outside the window.

“Bloody birds, must’ve gotten their flying pattern mixed or there’s a lot of road kill nearby.”

“Hm, don’t know. When I came out this morning to go to school I swear all their eyes were on me and some followed me all the way to University. They stayed in the trees that my route to different classes are. It kinda gives me the creeps.” Stated Rei as she glanced at some cluster of trees that were nearby. 

“Some followed me to the casino too.”

“Wonder if the others have had the same experiences.”

Murdoc shrugged his shoulders and looked at his menu. “Don’t know.”

An hour later the two parted ways not before Rei told Murdoc that she’d be a little late getting home because she had to stop by a friend’s flat to help work on a project, and not to worry about him picking her up.

* * *

Around 9pm, Rei was walking to the Underground stop to catch the train back to Wobble Street when a dark shadow figured appeared. Its figure would appear in the orange glow of the street lights and onto the sidewalk from where the lights in shops cast out onto the sidewalk. The thing followed Rei all the way back home and it wasn’t until she was walking down a dimly lit tunnel that led to the staircase did it decide to manifest itself in front of her. The ravens had all watched this and now their leader would intervene. The dark entity made the lights flicker as it formed into a human shape. Rei stopped in her tracks at the sight before her and slowly reached into her back jean pocket for her switchblade.

“Who are you?”

The figure cocked its head to the side as if in confusion then raised an arm to point to her. Then it spoke in a hissed voice in a language that Rei didn’t understand.

The artist began to back away but when she did the shadow rushed to her and knocked her down onto the ground making her drop her knife, and its black mass almost engulfing her. Rei screamed and yelled trying to get the thing of her. Before the shadow human could do any real damage, a winged savior appeared and swooped down onto the figure clawing at its head. The attack must have worked because the shadow human quickly got off Rei and struggled to get the attacking bird away from itself. It failed and returned to its bodiless form then escaped into the cracks in the ground. Rei sat up on her elbows and the raven landed on her knee. She saw that it had blood red eyes and were bigger than the ravens that had been following her.

Both of them stared at one another for what seemed like minuets then Rei’s eyes widened a little. “Cortez?”

The bird gave that familiar caw that hadn’t been heard in years and gently tapped the woman’s knee in response.

Rei got up and picked up her bag and extended an arm which Cortez perched himself on. “Thanks. Where have you been all this time? I let you out that morning and you never came back.” She had let the bird out the morning of shoot for El Manana and after a month had passed Rei and Murdoc thought the bird had decided not to come back to Kong.

_“Caw…”_

“I’ll take that as you getting around.” Rei replied. 

The bird then perched itself on Rei’s shoulder.

“I think everyone will be very surprised to see you, especially Murdoc.” Rei started to finish her journey home. When she reached the house, she entered and smelled the lingering effects of dinner and heard voices coming from the living room with the bassist’s voice being the most clear. As Rei climbed the steps the talk of waiting his turn could be heard coming from Noodle. They were playing a board game of some sort. She stood out of sight from them and looked at the raven still perched on her shoulder.

“Well, here goes nothing.” Rei walked into the room where the four looked up at her along with seeing the bird with her.

“Look who found me.”

“Is tha’ Cortez?” 2D looked in awe at the raven.

“Where’d he come from? We haven’t seen him in ages.” Russel cocked his head to the side in confusion.

Murdoc kept his eyes on the bird who stared right back. Then it flew from Rei’s shoulder and landed on the bassist’s knee. The two stared at each other while the other band members watched the scene before them.

The green man snickered. “Where’ve ya been you bloody bird? Just up and abandon me for four years straight.” He lifted a hand to stroke the bird’s head.

“This could explain the all the gathering of ravens outside. Maybe he attracted them and Cortez does come from the Grim Reaper’s cloak,” theorized Noodle.

“Where did you find him Tiger?”

“He found me. Something attacked me in an Underground tunnel.”

“Wot!? Someone tried to mug ya?” exclaimed the singer.

“No, what attacked me wasn’t human. It had a figure like a human but it was shadow like. No face what so ever just manifested darkness. Cortez attacked the thing before it could do some damage to me. After he attacked it the shadow human disappeared into the cracks in the ground. I guess it got spooked by the attack.” Rei went to go sit by the bassist.

Noodle frowned. First her nightmares were back and beginning to slowly get worse and now Rei was being attacked by manifested darkness. What the hell was going on? Could this be the residuals finally taking effect from defeating the Boogieman? Did the dark being have one last trick up his sleeve just in case he was defeated? Whatever it was, an answer had to be found out before things could get worse.

Murdoc had only heard tidbits of the shadows forming into human like bodies but it was to take the damned that already died to Hell. They never attacked the living. Whoever summoned the shadow had a lot of power in being able to control it and bottom line that was bad, very bad. He knew that 2D and Russel most likely were the next targets and not knowing what would happen to them was frustrating. Maybe it was time that he got answers from the other side itself. The bassist didn’t like the idea but it was all he had to go on, and if Hannibal was involved in any of this then all bets were off. 


	9. Under False Pretenses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning - Mention of attempted rape

**Chapter 9**

**Under False Pretenses**

_She was weak, so very weak that she could barely move her limbs as she lay in a puddle of her own blood. Cuts and bruises covered her body and the heat and dryness of the place didn’t help the situation. Noodle didn’t know how long it had been since she had escaped her captors. When they had bought her down to Hell the demons bought her to their boss who took one look at her and sneered. She wasn’t the person he wanted but thought she’d make a good servant so he made her into his personal slave. Naturally Noodle did not cooperate and tried to resist the demon’s hold over her and even tried to escape, but she would get caught and the punishments were not light. Beatings, whippings, and even the once attempted rape had pretty much broken her spirit. Until one day, if you can call it that, her master had some business to take care of and she was left all alone with nobody to look after her. Gathering her strength Noodle knew it was now or never and managed to escape. She let her feet that was covered in the ragged boots that she was wearing when she was dragged down into Hell take her where ever as long as it was away from that horrid place she was bought to. Other demons, big and small, tried to take the guitarist for their own but she wouldn’t allow it. After wondering around and fighting off whatever decided to attack her Noodle came to a dimly lit little cove where she collapsed out of hunger and exhaustion. She broke into tears which stung when they ran down her face and wished that she was back with her family.  
  
Noodle would barely sleep for fear of being found or snatched by a powerful demon so she’d close her eyes when she felt that there was no danger. For sustenance, she’d steal food from weak demons that she knew she could fight off or catch what looked like demented rabbits or birds. Unfortunately one day when she was out hunting a very powerful demon was hunting the same prey and decided that Noodle would make a good addition to its meal and tried to capture her, but the woman’s strength and fortitude to stay alive was too much and he left her alone but not without dealing some heavy damage to her. The guitarist half crawled, half limped back to her little cove empty handed. When she got there she collapsed in a heap.  
  
“Noooddllee! Noodle! Girl where are ya?”  
  
The guitarist lifted her head at the sound of her name being called or what she thought was her name being called.   
  
“Noodle!!”  
  
It was her name being called and she swore that voice sounded familiar. She tried to call out but her voice was weak. She saw a beam of light coming towards the entrance of the cove and footsteps that sounded like the heels of boots tapping across the ground. When she saw who was calling her name her heart leapt with joy. He had come to find her and take her back home. Murdoc had come to save her. Smiling not caring that her lips were cracking and bleeding she, tried calling out to him again but her voice failed her once more. She saw that he was wearing a black short sleeved shirt, jeans, and his Cuban Heels. His inverted cross glinted dully in the Hellfire light. He was carrying a flashlight, a can of mace and a messenger bag that had his spell book inside was slung over his shoulder.  
  
“Murdoc help…” She shakily reached out an arm. “I’m here…I’m right here.”  
  
The bassist didn’t see the cove or the guitarist so he passed right by her going further away from her. “Noodle!”  
  
“No, no, no! Come back!” Noodle softly called out. Her vision was starting to blur. The energy she was using to get the man’s attention taking a toll on her. She watched as Murdoc moved further and further away from her. The tears once more flowing and stinging her cut face then everything faded into darkness as she kept calling his name._  
  
“Murdoc…don’t leave me here…”  
  
“Noodle, Noods wake up.” Rei gently shook her friend awake.  
  
Noodle opened her eyes and looked around the room. The late afternoon sun was shining through the blinds in the living room. Her eyes landed on the woman kneeling next to her who had a concerned look upon her face.   
  
“Rei?” the guitarist’s face felt sticky so she raised her hands to her face and felt dried tears.  
  
“You okay? You were talking in your sleep, and crying.”  
  
Noodle sat up and hastily wiped the remaining tears from her face. She slowly shook her head frowning. “No. I am not okay, these dreams are getting worse.” She got up from the couch and left the room not saying another word and leaving the female bassist to stare after her. Noodle climbed the stairs to the upstairs bathroom and once there the closed the door behind her and turned on the faucet. Splashing her face a few times with cold water, she dried it off and decided to take a walk to clear her mind. Leaving the bathroom she grabbed her jacket from her room and left the house.   
  
Noodle just began to walk not caring where her feet took her. She ended up coming to a park and sitting on the bench and drowned out the sounds of the noise around her. Noodle focused on her sneakers and tried to will away the nightmare and getting caught by Rei. She had told the others about the nightmares coming back and they had all told her what Murdoc said a couple weeks before which was Rei, Russ, and 2D all had her back. But she didn’t want to burden them with her problems, and now that Rei saw her in the midst of one of her dreams Noodle didn’t know what to do and didn’t know if the bassist would hear about it.  
  
“A pretty woman like you shouldn’t be looking sad.”  
  
Noodle was bought out from her thoughts by a deep voice and looking up she saw Hannibal standing in front of her.  
  
“Mind if I sit?”  
  
The guitarist shook her head. “No, go on ahead.”  
  
Hannibal sat down next to her. “My brother got on your nerves?”  
  
“No. I’m just thinking that is all.”  
  
“There’s a pub not far from here, I’ll buy ya a drink and you can tell me what’s on your mind.”  
  
Noodle looked at the older man and gave a small smile. “Sure.”  
  
The two walked to the pub and grabbed a seat at a booth. Hans ordered their drinks while Noodle told him what was on her mind. The older Niccals listened as she talked; now knowing that at least two members of his little brother’s group was having problems. He thought that the leader was slowly beginning to take Murdoc down by getting rid of his friends. Inside this delighted the man because soon his baby brother would come crashing down and he wanted to be there and see it. As for the young pretty thing in front of him, he would have to play his cards right seeing as she wasn’t the type that was easily persuaded. Once he got her in his clutches he’d use her for a while then dump her like a bad habit with the same plan for Rei. With her, he’d play the grieving brother and knowing of the relationship between her and Murdoc he would comfort her and use her vulnerability to his advantage. But first he would have to get both girls to trust him. To make Noodle feel better he entertained the woman with embarrassing stories about Murdoc when he was a child which made her laugh along with a couple of jokes.  
  
It was night by the time the two exited the pub and the guitarist was still giggling over some of the stories Hans told. “You have quite the sense of humor and those stories were very funny. I promise I won’t tell Murdoc.”  
  
“Well I try my best and I made you feel better didn’t I?”  
  
“Hai, you did. Thank you.”  
  
“No prob. Let me give you a ride home.” Hannibal casually draped his arm around Noodle’s shoulder as they walked toward his car which was a silver Vauxhall Astra sedan. He opened the door for her then got into the driver’s seat. Hans started the car and pulled away from the curb. “I’m not as bad as my brother makes me out to be. Sure I did beat him up when we were young and I have had my fair share of getting into trouble myself, but I’ve changed. Most of my friends are either dead, in jail, or working some dead end job in Stoke. I realized that I was gettin’ older and times were changing. I couldn’t run as fast from the cops like I used to. These old bones were cracklin’ and poppin’ like popcorn in a paper bag.”  
  
“I believe Murdoc still holds a grudge against you.”  
  
“Can’t blame him with what all the stuff I did do to him. I’ve tried to apologize in the past but he wouldn’t listen.”  
  
“Maybe you can try again. It wouldn’t hurt to try.”  
  
Hannibal looked at Noodle. “Good idea. I’m pretty much the only family he has left.”

* * *

They arrived at the house and Hannibal and Noodle got out of the car and walked up the steps. The guitarist searched her pockets for her keys and realized that they were in the house.  
  
“Shit, my keys are in the house.” She reached to push the doorbell but before she could the door opened and there stood 2D with his jacket on.  
  
“Noods I wos just about ta go look for ya.”   
  
“I had gone for a walk Stu.”  
  
“And I found her in the park with a frown on her face and I spent the rest of the afternoon cheerin’ her up.”  
  
2D looked at Hannibal and smiled a little. “Fanks.”  
  
“No problem.” The elder Niccals smiled back.  
  
“Come on in.” 2D stepped aside to let the two in.  
  
“I hope I did not cause any worry.” Noodle took off her jacket and hung it on one of the coat rack hooks.  
  
“We didn’t even know you were gone assuming you were up in your room wantin’ to be alone. But when Russel went up to get you for dinner he saw you were not there then the rest of us searched the house and realized ya were gone. I volunteered ta go and look for you.”  
  
Before Noodle could respond Murdoc walked into the narrow hall. “Where’ve you been and why are you with him?” he pointed to his brother.  
  
Noodle told the bassist what happened and he sneered at the part where Hans had gotten involved.   
  
“Why didn’t you just bring her straight home or call me?”  
  
“Because I didn’t think she wanted to go home Mudz. She’s in one piece and I’ve done nothing to her. Besides we got to know each other more.”  
  
“She doesn’t need to get to know you more.”  
  
“Murdoc I can take care of myself and it was nice spending time with your brother. No harm, no foul.”  
  
“Nice? Pfft, Hans isn’t a nice person to spend time with.”  
  
“Well that’s your opinion and you still hold a grudge against him. Maybe it’s time to let go Murdoc, he has.”  
  
The bassist scowled. “A grudge? You’re funny. I don’t hold a grudge I just don’t like him. After all the shit he’s done to me I have every right to hold a grudge if I wanted to.”  
  
“If that is what you want to do then you have a right to not like him but he is your brother and from what you have told me in the past, and what he has recently told me Hannibal is the only family you have left. Do not get me wrong; me, Rei, Russel, and 2D we are your family too, but the man standing right here is your blood. I would think you would kind of cling to that.” Noodle sighed and went upstairs to her room with the vocalist following behind.  
  
Both brothers watched them go and when they were out of sight, Murdoc turned back to Hans.   
  
“What did you put in her head?”  
  
“I didn’t put anything in her head. I just told her a few truths.”  
  
“Since when have you ever told the truth?”  
  
“When have you?” Hannibal folded his arms across his chest.  
  
“This isn’t about me. Stay away from her, stay away from the rest of them. I don’t need ya gettin’ all buddy, buddy. The only contact they should ever have with you is when they’re at the casino and even then you keep your boundaries in check.”  
  
Hannibal looked flatly at his little brother. “Fine I’ll keep a respectable distance but you can’t stop them from talking to me. By the way Noodle told me what’s going on.”  
  
“What do you mean?”  
  
“Her dreams and Rei’s little mishap with something inhuman in an Underground tunnel.”

Murdoc’s scowl grew deeper and he stepped closer to the taller man. “You’ve got something to do with that?”  
  
“No, not at all, why would I want to hurt those two?”  
  
“Because I know you can’t stand being left behind or left out. I know you’re jealous of me Hans. Jealous that I made it out of that hellhole we called home and you never made it out.”  
  
Hannibal narrowed his eyes. “If I was jealous then I wouldn’t have asked you to be a partner in my casino.”  
  
“Liar, you probably gave me half so that if you go down you’d try and take me with you. That ain’t gonna happen. So tell me, did you have anything to do with Noodle’s nightmares and Rei’s attack?”  
  
“Like I said no. Maybe you still have people after you and this time these people know what you are when it comes to religion. You’re still a Satanist after all.” Hans nodded to the inverted cross around Murdoc’s neck. “Maybe they can play the same game as you.” He turned to leave and opened the door but before he walked out he turned to look at him one last time. “Be careful Murdoc or you’ll fall into a hole you can’t get out of and nobody will be there to save you.”  
  
The bassist watched as his brother walked out of the house closing the door behind him. “Fuck.” He turned on his heel and strode into the empty kitchen. Opening the cabinet he took a half bottle of whiskey from it and sat down at the table. He opened it and took a huge swig. Maybe that summoning would come sooner than he thought.


	10. Captured

**Chapter 10**

**Captured**

The Evangelist had many clients. Some would only need her help once while others were works in progress. Her recent work in progress had survived an attack by the Boogieman and a band of pirates on a pink island in the middle of the ocean. She with the help of his friends he defeated the evil creature and was able to return to land after three years of hiding from them. The fish bowl headed being would once in a while take a shine to the people she helped and would from time to time check up on them so she decided to check up on the strange family. She had seen glimpses of all their futures and they all looked bright.

As she was casually gliding through a colorful portal the tentacles hanging over the rim of her fish bowl began to tap hurriedly against the thick glass. Her tentacles were a way to alert her to any type of danger or anyone who decided to summon her so stopping, she “listened” to the message that was being relayed to her. Someone needed her help and quickly. The Evangelist raised her hands to the side of the portal and opened an entrance to the place where the S.O.S was coming from. Flying through she entered into darkness. Down below the street lights cast is dull white glow onto streets and sidewalks while the sparse clouds drifted slowly across the night sky. Following the signal, she came to an extremely tall building that reached way up into the clouds themselves. She guided herself all the way to the top and hovered at the window peering inside.

It was dark and looked to be empty. Phasing through the huge window she landed on the ground and began to walk around, her tentacles barely making a sound against her head. The unknown danger that awaiting her was carefully concealed.

“Hello? Is anyone here? I received your distress call.” the Evangelist walked until she stood in the middle of the room. She didn't sense the invisible barrier go up then the floor glowed red trapping her. The Evangelist struggled as whatever power that was coming from it zapping up her energy but she began to grow weak and dropped to one knee, then the other. Her vision was getting blurry and soon she was laying flat on the ground.

Footsteps echoed throughout the room coming to a stop outside the circle. “You fell so easily into my trap. I'm surprised.”

The Evangelist weakly lifted her head to try and see who was speaking. Her eyes landed on the Black Cloud leader's face. Her eyes widened as she saw who it was. She tried to save him once but he wouldn't change his ways. Not even to save his own friends from dying. Even though the circle was full of dark magic she could feel the evil radiate off the man and an uncomfortable feeling pitted itself inside her stomach. He was up to something.

The leader had the supernatural being take to a glass chamber that was located in the basement of the tower. A spell was put on it to keep the Evangelist's power low so she wouldn't be able to escape or use her powers against him.

“Marius.” she looked at him with tired eyes.

“Ah, so you remember me.”

“Of course I remember you. I tried to save you from yourself once.”

“I didn't need your help.”

“You were out of control, you've would've destroyed yourself.”

“I'm still alive aren't I?” A hint of irritation was heard in Marius' voice.

“Only because of me. Your friends died because of you. More importantly your best friend.”

“They were going to turn against me.”

“No they weren't. They were trying to stop you from losing control of your powers. Especially her.”

“She was going to turn against me too. Her being my best friend stopped a long time ago.”

“She died in vain.” the Evangelist looked into the man's eyes and thought she saw a tiny spark of remorse there but it was gone in an instant.

“I don't care.”

The Evangelist frowned. “Why are you after Murdoc and his friends?”

“He's been a thorn in my side and has crossed me for the last time. I captured you so that you won't be able to help him or the others. You see, I plan to take out the pawns so to speak until the king is left. I've already have my hold on Noodle and gave Rei a warning. Stuart and Russel are next on my list. As for Araiya, she'll be the icing on the cake to bring Niccals to his knees. If I have to spill her blood then so be it.”

“I won't let you hurt them.” she tried to stand but her limbs felt like jello so she fell back to the floor.

“The spell I've on your little prison is very powerful so you won't be able to escape and don't try to exert too much energy because it'll just drain it from you. You'll watch Murdoc die, and there's nothing you'll be able to do about it.” Marius turned on his heal and left.

Evangelist watched the door close then half dragged herself over to the small bed. She knew she had to conserve her energy to try and send out a distress signal. And she knew exactly who she wanted to send it to.

Hopefully, the distress signal would reach him in time and he'd be able to come down from his travels to warn and help protect Murdoc and the others. 


	11. Answers (Sort Of)

**Chapter 11**

**Answers (Sort Of)**

Murdoc had gathered all the ingredients for the summoning and would preform it while the others were out of the house at the Spring Festival that the neighboring town was holding. He hoped that the demon he was going to call upon would give him answers to what was going on and pinpoint who was causing all of this. As for Hannibal, he'd get his confirmation on the scumbag's involvement, and use a bit of magic to corner the man and take care of the rest with his fists then send him to jail or back to Stoke with his tail between his legs but not without humiliating him first in front of his family. The bassist knew that doing this was risky and knew that Rei, Stu, Russ, and Noodle didn't particularly like him doing spells since he had a bad track record of containing them largely due to the fact he was drunk when he summoned some dark entity or demon, but this time he was sober and had no time for fooling around for in a way time was of the essence.

Cortez had stuck by his side throughout the day as he prepared himself and would chime in to what his master was doing as if he approved or not. And just like old times Murdoc would respond to the caws of his old friend. The raven had quickly gotten used to the smaller space and learned to fly up and down the stairs without crashing into the walls, and when he didn't feel like flying he'd hitch a ride on someone's shoulder.

By the time Murdoc got home from the casino the others had already left for the festival. Grabbing the spell book that contained the summoning spell with Cortez following him, he went down to the basement to set up the ritual. The bird perched himself on the back of a steel chair. Completing the circle an drawing the correct symbols, he took a sharp steak knife and cut into his palm then let some of his blood drip onto the circle. With the spell book propped up on an old milk crate the bassist began to recite the words. As he did so the circle glowed red and harmless sparks of lightening shot up towards the ceiling. Smoke billowed from it engulfing the surrounding area. Finally the demon came forth and looked down upon Murdoc. The creature was gargoyle like with huge black bat wings and glowing orange eyes. The stench of Hell was on him.

“Why do you call upon me mortal?”

“I need help.”

“What kind of help?”

“Information as to what's going on with a couple of friends and what my no good brother Hannibal is up to.”

“What will you give me in return for helping you?”

Murdoc huffed out a breath. “You waste no time in wanting to be paid do you?”

The demon smirked. “I have had people in the past not pay up when they promised they would so I had to change my policy so to speak. Now I ask again, what will you give me?”

“Some of my blood.”

“Blood? That's the oldest payment in the book. You've got to do better than that.”

“That's the only thing I'm willing to give. Sorry but a few vials of blood should suffice for information. I'm not asking you to kill anyone.” the bassist glared at the demon.

The demon glared back regarding Murdoc's answer. “Fine. Make it four and not a drop less. Deal?”

“Deal.”

The demon had four black crystal vials appear out of thin air and Murdoc filled them all. After doing so, the demon agreed to gather information. It then disappeared leaving the bassist by himself.

Murdoc wrapped a towel around his hand to stem the bleeding. He'd have to do a healing spell after he cleaned up. Didn't want to leave any trace behind of what he did. If anybody found out he'd have to answer, and he certainly didn't want any of that. Especially if Rei found out. Even he knew that answering to her can be difficult. Cortez cawed at his master who glanced at him.

“What? I did what I had to do. I need to stay ahead of the game and make sure that my jackass brother of mine doesn't know my moves. This isn't like all the other times when I've dabbled in my spell books. I'm completely sober.”

* * *

“He walked right into my plan.” Marius looked at the four vials of blood that were laying in front of him. All that was left was to have the remaining blood collected. He had linked his power with Murdoc's so whatever the green man conjured up he'd know about it and would be able to work it to his advantage if need be, and Murdoc summoning a demon to try and get the low down on what was going on did the trick which meant that he could stay one step ahead of him and sent the demon back to the bassist to tell him a lie. But not to do it too quickly or the bassist would get more suspicious than he already was.

Once he had his plan laid out, he'd capture each of Murdoc's so called family one by one like rats then lure him to the tower and act out his plan. Nothing could stop him and he'd finally be rid of the bassist for good.

* * *

A week later while the group was gathered for dinner, the demon that Murdoc summoned appeared in the kitchen behind Russel. Murdoc heard it calling his name and almost choked on his food when he saw the thing standing there bold as brass. He quickly looked at the others who were completely oblivious to the creature and was in a deep conversation about music. Excusing himself from the table, he snuck down to the basement to talk to the demon.

“So what did you find out?”

“Seems like your brother has some personal debt to pay off so that's why he took the job of running the casino.”

“Debt? Are you shittin' me?”

“No.”

“Then why get me involved in helping him pay back his debt to whoever?”

“He sees that you're an opportunist when it comes to making quick cash.”

Murdoc snorted. “So he thinks I'm an easy target? I see... But what about the other stuff I told you to check out? Does he have a hand in that?”

“No he does not.”

“Who's he working for?”

“Somebody he used to know when he was younger. As for your friend having bad dreams and your lover getting attacked by some unknown dark force I say it is pure coincidence. Your guitarist friend may just have some unresolved issues she needs to sort out and your lover was out late at night on a full moon and you know what is said about that. Most likely a dark but weak spirit decided to randomly attack her.”

“Are you positive about this? Because if you aren't-”

“I am positive about this. I looked and retrieved what you wanted me to get so my service to you is over. Now if you will excuse me.” With a snap of his fingers the demon disappeared into thin air leaving Murdoc to stare at the empty spot.

That was it? Those were the answers? No, it couldn't be it. Murdoc still deep down in his gut knew that something wasn't right. Hannibal being in debt sounded about right but not to say who exactly this friend is that his brother is working for was not going to cut it.

“Mudz?”

Snapping from his thoughts, the man looked over his shoulder to see Rei standing at the top of the stairs. “Yeah?”

“What are you doing down here?”

“Looking for my lighter. Thought I left it down here somewhere.”

“Are you gonna finish your dinner?”

“Yeah, I'll be up in a minuet.”

Rei raised an eyebrow in confusion and went back to the kitchen.

Murdoc watched her go and sighed. Deep down in his gut, he knew something still wasn't right and he'd have to dig a little deeper even if it meant getting his hands dirty. 


	12. Digging Deeper

**Chapter 12**

**Digging Deeper**

He only had a short window of time to do what he needed to do, so walking silently down the carpeted hall, Murdoc reached his brother's office. Turning the knob he found that the door was locked. Typical Hannibal who always locked up when he wanted to protect something of his. The man had done it when they were living at home because Jacob had stolen money from both of them. That was one of the few useful things he learned from his older brother. Taking his lock picking kit from his pocket, he took out the two tools deemed necessary to open the door and when he heard the 'click' he opened the door and went inside. Closing the door behind him, he turned on the lights heading straight for the desk. He knew that there had to be some kind of paperwork or physical evidence linking his brother to whom he owed money to. Find that and use it to his advantage. Sitting down in the plush leather chair, Murdoc began to go through the drawers. The top ones were filled with useless knickknacks and a handful of receipts from various stores around London. Hannibal had been a very busy man.

Murdoc then looked in the bottom drawers, the first two contained empty file folders and a black sweatshirt for some odd reason, but the big bottom one was the jackpot. Inside were files that contained the deed to the casino and the building itself along with the employees resumes and the paperwork for their background checks. The bassist took out the deed and looked at it. Even it looked legit. Another file he pulled out contained bank statements. Now if he could find some discrepancy then he'd use it to bring Hannibal down. Taking these important files, he went to the small empty room where the photocopier was kept and scanned all the documents. He would be back for the computer files which would require a bit more skill since he was sure that his brother had a password to get into them. After copying the files, he put everything back to where they belonged and made sure nothing was out of place. Making sure the coast was clear, Murdoc exited Hans' office and re-locked the door then returned to his own office and put the copies in a folder.

Hopefully something wouldn't add up in the papers he took.

* * *

Arriving home late, Murdoc heard the sound of laughter coming from the kitchen. Hanging up his jacket, he walked into the room and saw the four members of the house in the middle of a game of Monopoly. Each had a bottle of beer in front of them with some snacks, and 2D was frowning handing over a few crisp blue Pounds over to Russel who was chuckling with glee at his newly acquired cash.

“...I swear 'D you have some of the worst luck with this game.”

“Tha's why I don't play it much,” sighed the singer who finished off his beer.

“But you have done pretty well so far,” chimed Noodle who happened to look up and see Murdoc standing in the doorway. “You are home late.”

“Had something to take care of.”

“You missed dinner.” Rei looked at him. “I can fix you a quick meal.”

“I'm not hungry. Plus I have these to go over.” Murdoc waved the files in front of them.

“Wot are those?”

“Papers that will hopefully bring Hannibal down.”

“Man why are you so hell bent on trying to screw over your brother?” asked Russel.

“I'm not trying to screw him over. I'm trying to find out what his true motive is because him popping up out of the blue, asking me to be his partner, and trying to be friends with you all is very suspicious to me. I know him and you don't. I know what he's capable of. The man will sell you out just to make a quick buck.”

“Like you have not done that,” spoke Noodle.

The bassist eyed her. “I know I've done that plenty of times, but at least I didn't do it to any of you. All you know that I'd never do that.”

“We know but Mudz we are curious about Hannibal,” said Rei.

“What's so damn curious about him?”

“We're all meeting someone from your family for the first time and we want to know who he is despite what you've told us. Let us see what you see through our own eyes and if your brother is what you say he is, then me, 'D, Noods, and Russ will admit that you're right. I'm keeping what you have said about him close to me and not showing all my cards, and quite frankly Hannibal hasn't given us any reason not to trust or not like him.” The female bassist saw her boyfriend grimace. “Look, if you find something in those files that don't add up then I'll help you find whatever else you think is shady and help expose your brother.”

Murdoc gave an exasperated sigh. “Fine but all of ya can say that I'm right right now because there's no mistake about it.”

“No Mudz” Russel shook his head. “We'll say that when we find out for ourselves.”

“Then you're in for a world of disappointment.” At that the bassist left the four to stare after him as he walked from the kitchen. He went down to his little room in the basement and began to go over the files.

* * *

Time passed by quickly and before Murdoc even knew it, the watch on his wrist had read 1:20am. He was still pouring over the papers and had yet to find anything suspicious. His concentration was broken by the sound of footsteps on the stairs. He looked up and saw Rei coming down them wearing a robe and watched as she came towards him.  
“Murdoc it's after one in the morning, come to bed.”

“I'm still working Tiger.”

“And don't you think your mind not to mention your eyes will be fresher after your get some sleep because I know that some of those numbers have become blurred in the past couple of hours.”

Murdoc took a drag of the half smoked cigarette and exhaled. “I'm fine.”

“No you're not.” the woman removed the cigarette from the man's mouth and put it out in the ashtray then closed the file that was in front of him. “Don't say a word. You're comin' to bed and that's final.” she picked Murdoc up by his arm and led him up stairs and then to their bedroom.

He didn't want to admit it but Murdoc was tired and the numbers were beginning to double and not because of a banker's mistakes. So he let his woman take him to bed. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he fell asleep.

Rei smiled and kissed him on the cheek and got back into bed herself. She looked at him for a few minuets. If Murdoc was right then they all would have to be on their guard even more because even she and the others truly didn't know what Hannibal was capable of doing, and they'd let the green man handle his brother on his terms. They would be there for backup if need be. She just hoped that if Murdoc did find something that it wouldn't lead to anything deeper and that a simple call the the British version of the IRS and police would suffice, and they all could move on. Snuggling down further into the covers and more into her Bass Slayer, Rei closed her eyes and went back to sleep.

Of course none of them knew how deep this was and would find out sooner than later. 


	13. From Bad to Worse: Part 1

**Chapter 13**

**From Bad to Worse: Part 1**

As Murdoc kept searching for dirt on his brother and waiting for the man to slip up, Noodle's nightmares became worse which in turn made the woman herself lose control. She had almost stopped eating and sleeping. Her appearance had become worn and everyone was concerned. The guitarist would snap at her friends for no reason in particular and would stay in her room or when she felt that Murdoc, 2D, Russ, and Rei were crowding her, she'd go and stay in her windmill. Noodle began to feel isolated from her family and thought that they didn't understand what she was going through.  
  
The person that was most worried was the vocalist. Ever since Noodle's dreams got worse she'd stop sleeping in his bed and most importantly stopped talking to him. Every time he tried to talk she'd shut down or get annoyed at him. One morning she even yelled at him which caught the singer off guard and made him cower a little at her tone. He asked Russel on what he should do, but even the drummer couldn't give any sound advice and told 2D to be careful around the woman.  
  
However, none of them knew that Noodle would have a dream that would bleed into reality which would be the straw that broke the camel's back, and would cause her to have a meltdown.  
  
It was late afternoon on a Tuesday and the sky outside was overcast. The clouds were waiting for the right time to burst open and pour down fresh rain upon the city. All members of Gorillaz were home and were in various places inside the house. 2D was in the living room playing on the Xbox 360, his face contorted into a determined look as he was shooting down a hoard of zombies, Russel was out in the small backyard working on his latest project which Murdoc stated that it looked like a giraffe had mated with a water buffalo, and what he was creating was the end result. Of course this made the bassist laugh but Russel just rolled his milky white eyes and continued to work while Rei and Cortez had decided to watch Russel work on his taxidermy. Murdoc was in the kitchen on his laptop still searching the flash drive that contained a copy of his brother's more personal files looking for discrepancies.  
  
Noodle on the other hand was in her room having the most realistic dream that she ever had.  
  
 _The house was quiet and the guitarist had left her room because her growling stomach was too much for her to ignore. She had only eaten the small breakfast that Russel had left outside her door that morning. She looked at the bassist's closed bedroom door and headed down to the kitchen. On her way she glanced into the living room to find no-one there. Noodle thought the silence in the house was due to everyone being away, but when she reached the kitchen she saw her family sitting at the table talking in hushed tones. They stopped as soon as the Japanese woman stepped in._  
  
 _Noodle looked at them all, eight pairs of narrowed eyes staring back with intensity in them. Frowning a little, she wanted to know what was happening._  
  
 _“What is the problem? You all look angry.”_  
  
 _“I'm not goin' to beat around the bush Noodle so I'm just going to say it and that is you're the problem.” Murdoc spoke first._  
  
 _“Nani?”_  
  
 _“He didn't stutter, he said you're the problem, and he's right.” Rei spoke next. “Ever since we came back from Plastic Beach you've been nothing but distant from all of us. It's like you don't want to be a part of us anymore.”_  
  
 _“That is not true-”_  
  
 _Before Noodle could finish, 2D interupted her. “That is true. I tried to get my Zen partner back. Thought I could get ya to be your old self again but I soon realized tha' I couldn't. I was in love with you Noodle. Now I realize that I can't be I love wiv someone as weak and pathetic as you. You're no longer worthy ta share my bed. Too bad Murdoc 'as Rei because I know she'd be a much better lover than you.”_  
  
 _The guitarist began to tear up. “No Stu, I would never reject you. I have the same feelings.” she looked to Russel, her father figure. Surely he would have something positive to say. “Russel?”_  
  
 _“You ain't my baby-girl anymore. You've changed and for the worse I might add.”_  
  
 _“That's why we've all come to a conclusion. You must leave and never come back. Deal with your demons by yourself because we've had enough,” sneered Rei._  
  
 _“I regret going down to Hell and looking for you. You should have just died that day and stayed dead.”_  
  
 _This wasn't happening. Noodle didn't want t believe that this was happening. This had to be one of her nightmares because her friends wouldn't say these hurtful things. She closed her eyes and violently shook her head to try and wake herself up but when she opened them again the other four were advancing on her with even angrier expressions on their faces and were hurling abuses at her. The woman fell to her knees and clutched her head in her hands._  
  
 _What sounded like hissing was soft at first then it got louder and soon materialized into two voices._  
  
 _“They don't want you...”_  
  
 _“They don't need you...”_  
  
 _“It's all Murdoc's fault. He put you in this situation. If he hadn't then you would not be this way now. You should tell him how you really feel.”_  
  
 _“Hurt him with words.”_  
  
 _“He deserves it...”_  
  
 _“Go on, tell him...”_  
  
The voices stopped and Noodle opened her eyes. Somehow she was standing on the first floor, just outside the kitchen where she heard four voices talking inside there. Slowly, she made her way to the kitchen her eyes unusually focused not seeing the lighting flash on the wall in front of her, her ears concentrating on those voices not hearing the rumble of thunder outside the house. She was soon standing in the archway. It was the same way; Rei, Murdoc, Russel, and Stu sitting at the table talking. Talking in what she thought were the same quiet whispers.  
  
The same eight pairs of eyes shifted towards her just only their stares weren't angry but each of them had small smiles on their faces.  
  
Immediately the others saw that some thing was wrong because the glazed look in Noodle's eyes weren't normal. To them it was like she was in a trance.  
  
“Noods, yew okay?” the singer asked frowning.  
  
The woman's eyes shifted to him. “Don't try to pretend you care,” she spat. “Our Zen bond is gone remember? Said that me sharing your bed is not worthy anymore and that Rei would be a better lover.”  
  
Murdoc, Rei, and Russel turned their heads to look at the singer.  
  
In one quick movement the drummer's huge hand had 2D by the collar. “Da fuck?! You've been sleepin' with her?!”  
  
“Wot? I never said tha'!” he shook his head frantically. He knew he couldn't lie about sleeping with Noodle so he decided that he'd take the painful lumps that were going to come from Russel and possibly Murdoc later and admit it now. “But yes, we've been sleepin' togevver.”  
  
“How long?” asked the bassist.  
  
“A few months after we settled here when we got back from Plastic Beach. It wos consensual I swear!” he looked at Murdoc. “I never touched or made an advance to Rei. I like breathing.” Apart from sleeping with Rei back on Point Nemo with Murdoc's permission, the singer hadn't made any sexual advances toward the woman. It was a one and done deal.  
  
Rei had a feeling that Noodle and Stu were sleeping together from the way they acted. The two acted the same way she and Murdoc acted after they first slept together. Plus the limping from Noodle a day later during that month. She knew that limp and was surprise that Noodle didn't tell her.  
  
“I'll deal with you later.” Russ let go and turned his attention back to his daughter figure. “Noodle what has gotten into to you girl?”  
  
“And you, I'm not your precious baby-girl anymore either so you can cut the shit with me Russel.”  
  
The big man was taken aback as well by her outburst. This wasn't the Noodle he knew when he inadvertently found her floating in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean. Nor was it the one when they first settled down here in this house.  
  
Rei frowned at her best friend's behavior. This had to be triggered by one of her nightmares. It had to be. “Noodle, I think you need to sit down.”  
  
“Don't tell me what to do Rei. You're supposed to be like my sister, my staunchest ally in most things but did I get support from you when I came back?”  
  
“You know I was there for you. You know that. I helped you heal some of those wounds that were inside of you.”  
  
Noodle sneered. “You didn't do such a good job because I still have them.”  
  
Murdoc had listened to enough. “Noodle you need to really stop because you're gonna say something that you'll regret.”  
  
The guitarist gave a bitter laugh and turned her fury to the bassist. “Ah yes, you have to be in control of everything don't you? Always have to have the last word. You are the sorriest bastard I have ever met Murdoc Niccals.”  
  
Murdoc narrowed his eyes at her. “Dreams or no dreams, you have no right to talk to me that way.” In reality, he was trying to garner some control over the breakdown that Noodle was having.  
  
“Oh I do not? That isn't new. I have every right to speak my mind to each and every one of you. You're not special Murdoc. You do not give a damn about anybody but yourself and even that is questionable. Deep down you are nothing but a scared little boy who is weak and needs people around to make himself feel better. That will not last and in the end you will become an old and lonely bitter man with nobody around to care about you.”

Murdoc knew he really couldn't gain any footing and was losing this battle quickly.  
  
But Noodle then said words that would stick with him and the others forever even though she didn't truly mean them. Narrowing her eyes at the green man, the young woman let three words come from her mouth that had ever been said to him before in his life. “I hate you.”  
  
Those words bought silence down upon the occupants in the kitchen. Only the rumble of thunder and crack of lighting was heard. Murdoc felt like a person hit him in his chest hard and that person was his guitarist.  
  
2D's jaw had dropped and Russel and Rei stared at the woman with wide eyes. Even they thought they would never hear those words directed at Murdoc.  
  
“Since you all do not need me, I'm leaving and never coming back.” At that, Noodle stalked out of the kitchen then out the door. The clouds finally let forth the rain that it had been promising.  
  
The heavens were crying while four people were left to swallow the bitter pill they received.


	14. From Bad to Worse: Part 2

**Chapter 14**

**From Bad to Worse: Part 2**

“Wot just 'appened?” 2D frowned looked worried.

“Don't know but somethin's got a hold on baby-girl and I'm not liking it one bit.” Russ worriedly stated.

“We got ta go after her! She can get lost or hurt our there in that rain.”

The drummer nodded and turned his attention to Murdoc who was staring blankly at the door frame that Noodle had just occupied. “Mudz, she didn't mean it man. Noodle don't hate you.”

“He's right Murdoc.” Rei reached over and put her hand on his knee. “Those nightmares have fimally taken a toll on her and she just exploded. None of what she said to all of us isn't true and she doesn't mean it. Stu's also right, she can get hurt or lost and we have to go look for her.”

The bassist shifted his gaze to the three next to him. He swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat and nodded. “You three go out. I-I'll stay here just in case she comes back.”

“Are you sure?” Rei rose from her seat.

“Yeah.” he looked her in the eyes; there was a sadness within them.

“Alright.” she frowned seeing it.

Rei, Russel, and 2D left the kitchen, grabbed their coats, and Rei grabbed the car keys to Stylo and they left the house. Getting into the car they took off to find the guitarist.

* * *

Noodle walked along the sidewalk still dazed. She was now completely soaked to the bone and a Spring chill was in the now air. She didn't care and didn't even notice Cortez following her. Noodle had done what she needed to do and in her mindset, she had rid herself of the people that no longer cared about her. She'd pack her things and leave on her floating island, and be free from it all. Letting her feet do the walking, she walked quite the distance and ended up in a park. The young woman saw a brick public bathroom had an awning on the side so running towards it she took refuge under it. The smell wasn't so bad, but that could be because the smell of rain and the earth overpowered the stench that usually came with public toilets like this one. Sliding down the wall, Noodle wrapped her arms around herself and let the tears fall.

* * *

Meanwhile, the three musicians drove slowly up and down every street looking for her. The heavy rain wasn't helping any. In the backseat, the singer whimpered and fiddled with his fingers.

“Wot if we can't find 'er?” Said 2D looking out the car window.

“We'll find her 'D,” spoke the drummer from the passenger seat. “She couldn't have gone far because of the rain.”

“Maybe we should park somewhere and see if she's in any of the shops.”

“Good idea Rei.”

The woman found a parking spot and parked the car. “There's a problem guys.”

“What?”

“There's only one umbrella in the car. We're gonna have to take turns.”

Russel volunteered. “I'll go first and take the first half of the shops.”

2D and Rei nodded and the drummer took the umbrella and left Stylo. The rain pounded down onto the top of the car and onto front and back windshield. A few minuets of silence passed the two in the car before the vocalist spoke.

“Yew fink Murdoc will be okay?”

“Yeah.”

“I don't fink anyone 'as ever said tha' to 'im and for it ta come from Noodle despite 'er not meanin' it. I know it hurt 'im.”

Rei nodded in agreement. “He'll be fine after a while. I believe he knows that Noodle didn't mean it.”

“I feel like we failed Noods. We couldn't 'elp her and now look wot's 'appened. Why would the nightmares come back all of a sudden?”

“Honestly 'D I don't know but I kinda have a theory.”

“Wot is it?”

“Her dream came back as soon as Hannibal arrived and asked Murdoc to be his partner.”

“Ya don't fink he has something to do with all of this?”

Rei shrugged her shoulders. “I don't want to cause any speculation because we don't know him much aside from what Mudz has told us.”

“Yew think he's a Satanist?”

“I don't get that vibe from him.”

“Y'know Rei, sometimes when I'm 'round him, I get fis weird feeling in the pit of my stomach.”

“You too? When I greeted him for the first time I felt something too but ignored it.”

“If, and that's a big if, then if he's involved then maybe Murdoc shouldn't be worried 'bout finances and instead look on the darker side of the moon....”

Rei and Stu's eyes locked and silence passed between them. They were both thinking the same thing but neither wanted to say it for fear that they might be right. Russel's return broke the quietness as the man hurriedly got into the car.

“She wasn't in any of the stores.”

“I'll go next.” the female bassist took the umbrella and headed out to search the second cluster of stores and shops. Fifteen minuets later she came back with the same results, and then it was 2D's turn. He too didn't find Noodle and came back empty handed.

2D and Rei told Russel about the conversation they had while he was gone and the big man didn't like what he heard. Even he admitted that there was something in the pit of his own stomach that made him uneasy but was being nice because he really didn't know Hannibal. Murdoc was right, there was a lot off about his brother and maybe it was time for them to help the bassist trap a possible rat.

Starting the car, Rei pulled away from the curb and drove down the street. They unknowingly came to the park that Noodle was hiding in and Rei parked in the small parking lot. All four barely paid attention to the black Land Rover that was a few spaces away. The rain had let up and was now a heavy drizzle. The white hazy glow of the lamps cast their light upon the walking path.

“We'll search the park.”

“What of we don't find her here?” asked Russel.

“The we're just gonna have to go home and begin again tomorrow.”

“But I don't want ta leave Noodle out 'ere.”

“I know Stu, but we have no choice. It'll be a new day and daylight will help us immensely. So spread out.”

The three took different paths and began to search for their friend.

Karina had found Noodle still under the awning who was shivering because of the wet clothes she was still in. She stood in front of the girl and thought she looked pathetic. “Noodle.” Her brother Adam had noticed that the guitarist had left the house on his tracking device and wanted to know what was up. He told Karina who thought it was a waste of time but came along anyway with a couple of henchmen in tow. Now she was happy that she came.

Noodle shifted her eyes to the voice that called her name. The light had gone out of her eyes and were nothing but a dull green.

“I'm Karina, remember me? I'm the one you met at the casino's grand opening. I'm Hannibal's close assistant.”

Noodle studied the woman. Even in rain and dull light the woman's auburn hair and striking blue eyes seemed to stand out. She frowned and slowly nodded.

“Are you okay?”

Noodle shook her head.

“Do you want me to take you home?”

Noodle tensed up at the word 'home' and once again and shook her head.

“Do you want me to take you some place where you can dry off and rest?”

Noodle simply nodded and got shakily to her feet. Karina, Adam, and the two men crowded around the guitarist and began to lead her to the SUV.

At the same time 2D had reached the stone public bathroom and saw the group of people. He was about to shrug it off when he caught sight of violet hair in between one of the gaps. “Noodle!” he cried out.

The group looked up at him and Karina scowled. She looked at her two henchmen and told them to take care of the singer and keep him away until Noodle was in the car. They obeyed and headed towards the vocalist.

2D saw the big men coming towards him and wondered why they were coming. One of the men grabbed the singer by the collar and pushed him against a nearby tree. 2D cried out in pain when his back hit the trunk and the other two heard then came running. The second man cut off Russel and kept him back while Rei headed to the other. Since the man was a hulking mass, she jumped on his back and attempted to put a choke hold on him. It made the man let go of the singer.

“Rei, Russ! Noodle!” 2D pointed to the two people quickly guiding the petite woman to the Land Rover. He tried to run after the three but the huge man was able to throw Rei off his back and into the singer. Both went down with an 'oof'.

The other henchman had gotten Russel on the ground after delivering a hard punch to his gut. Both henchmen were able to run away and make it to the car where it sped off into the night taking Noodle with them.

Rei and 2D ran to the drummer and helped him up.

“Yew okay?”

Russ winced at the pain in his stomach, the guy had a powerful right hook. “Yeah...I'm fine. You two a'ight?”

“Yeah.”

“Uh-huh.”

“We gotta go back and tell Murdoc what just happened.”

The three made it back to Stylo where they hurried home. Once there they found the bassist still in the kitchen just only this time, he was smoking a cigarette and had a half bottle of whiskey beside the ashtray.

Murdoc looked up and saw their disheveled looks. “The hell happened to you?”

“Noodle's gone!”

“She's been taken.”

“By who?”

“These four people. We 'ad stopped to look in the park an' I saw Noodle walking away wiv them. I called out to her but they 'ad some big men stop us from getting' ta 'er. I couldn't make out the ovver two.”

“We tried to fight them off but they were too big, man.”

Murdoc put his cigarette out in the ashtray and stood. He got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Now he was angry and Stu, Rei, and Russ could see it. The man took the car keys from Rei's hand and walked out of the kitchen with the others following behind. He put on his jacket and opened the front door.

“Where you goin'?” Asked Russel.

The bassist looked back at the drummer. “To have a little chat with my dear brother.” he walked out the door slamming it behind him. 


	15. Finding Out a Rat

**Chapter 15**

**Finding Out a Rat**

Murdoc arrived at the apartment complex that Hannibal was staying in and made his way up to the 13th floor where he pounded on the door. At first when his brother didn't answer he let out a growl and pounded on it again. Hannibal's voice mumbled behind the door and when he opened it he saw Murdoc wearing a pissed off look on his face.

“Murdoc, what you doin' here?”

“Where is she?”

“She? 'She' who?”

“I don't have time for your shit. My guitarist. Where is she?”

“Noodle? How am I supposed to know. Besides, I'm in the middle of something right now if ya know what I mean.”

Sneering, Murdoc barged into the flat and spotted the woman in the form fitting green polka-dotted dress sitting on the beige suede couch. “Sorry love, date's been canceled. I suggest you go now.”

Hannibal stood in front of his younger brother trying not to have his date leave. “I'm sorry, he's my brother and has no manners. He was just joking and is now leaving.” he glared at Murdoc who glared right back.

The bassist thought of the quickest way to get the bird out. “I'm not leaving and I'm here because of something urgent. He only invited you back to his place so he could shag you then kick you out of his flat. And trust me, he never would've called you.”

“Murdoc!” Hans hissed.

“Oh, by the way, the man has had the clap on four separate occasions. So I wouldn't sleep with him if I were you.”

The woman made a noise of disgust and stood. Grabbing her jacket, she scowled at Hannibal and hurriedly left the flat closing the door behind her.

Hannibal looked at the shut door in shock then became angry. He turned to his brother who was still glaring at him. “The fuck was that?! I was close to getting what I wanted.”

“I don't give a fuck. Now I'm gonna ask you one last time, where's Noodle?”

“How the hell am I supposed to know? You can't keep tabs of the people who live with you?”

“Not when they're acting strange all of a sudden lately. Russel, Rei, and 2D just came home looking beat up and as a matter of fact they were. These two burly guys kept them away as two people took my guitarist away in a SUV.”

“I know nothing of what happened. Maybe the people you owe took her as collateral.”

Murdoc grabbed the man by his collar and pinned him against the nearby wall. “What do you know about me owing anybody?”

Hannibal snorted. “I did a little research. The Black Clouds sound familiar?”

The bassist tightened his grip on the man's shirt. “What's it to you?”

“I know everything. You owing money then cheating them with fake weapons. Them coming after Noodle and shooting her from the sky. Seems like you got into more trouble than out of it when you left home. That on top of the drug and booze addiction you already had. Clearly you still drink 'cause I smell it on ya breath, but tell me do you still shoot up? Does your so called little family even know about the problem you had with that?”

Murdoc's raised a fist to hit Hans but didn't. It wasn't worth it. “I don't do that anymore and they do know.” His scowl deepened and his voice became dangerously low. “When I find out you had something to do with Noodle's behavior, I'll send you back to Stoke in a body cast.”

“You wouldn't dare.”

“Try me.” Murdoc let go of his brother's shirt. “Oh yeah, speaking of research. I know you're in debt to some people too so looks like you're on the same boat I was in.”

A tiny bit of surprise quickly crossed Hannibal's features but it quickly disappeared. “How'd you find out?”

“As a Satanist I have my ways. Tell me who you owe.”

“That's none of your damned business.” Hannibal pushed Murdoc away from him. “Get out.”

Murdoc stumbled back a bit when Hans pushed him away. “I'm gonna find out what's really going on and when I do, it'll be your ass and whoever else is involved. That my dear brother, is a promise.” He backed away keeping his eyes locked on his brother until he left the apartment. He got back into Stylo and drove off back to home. When he arrived, he found Russel in the kitchen making himself a sandwich.

The drummer looked up from putting mayonnaise on the slide of bread he had in his hand. “What happened?”

“He claimed to not know about Noodle being taken away and for her having these nightmares. He even owes people money.” Murdoc went to the fridge and took out a couple beers and sat one next to the drummer.

“I don't like this. I don't like this at all.” Russel rubbed his bald head frowning.

“Well how do you think I feel? Now do you understand why I told you and everybody else to stay away from that bastard?” Murdoc opened his bottle and took a long swig from it.

“We should focus on finding Noodle and getting her back. We can deal with your brother later when we find out if he's involved.”

“Oh he's involved, just don't know how deep and who's he working for.”

“How are we gonna find Noods?”

“Leave it to me Lards.” Murdoc grabbed another beer and left the kitchen leaving the drummer to stare after him.

Russ was worried that whoever took Noodle might harm her. He even wondered if the whole Black Cloud shit was really over and somebody in the higher ups was coming after them all this time. Finishing making his sandwich he took the bottle of beer and headed up to his room on the second landing. Little did the man know, he was going to get some information from the other side. 


	16. Distress Signal

**Chapter 16**

**Distress Signal**

He didn't want to leave that day. He didn't want to leave his best friend behind and even begged the dark being not to take him away, but unfortunately he was taken away and bought to the Other Side where he was greeted by a winged servant who assured him that everything would be okay. This made the ghost angry and demanded that he be taken back to his friend. The angel said that she couldn't do that and would take him to the person who may or may not allow him to go back.  
  
When they arrived in the grand hall where he would meet the Supreme Being, he was truly humbled by the man that appeared in front of him wearing a white suit. He begged to be reunited with Russel and even promised that he would protect him from the other supernatural forces that were swirling around in the man's head. Once again, Del was denied. The Being told him that both of them needed to heal from what had occurred that night at the 7-Eleven.   
  
Del then asked if he could return to his home and at least watch over and protect the young people that always hang out there and hope that no repeat of what had happened will happen again. The Supreme Being agreed but told the blue ghost that the city itself was his limit. He couldn't go beyond its border. Agreeing, Del was sent back to the Bronx and back to the convenient store where he and his friends were killed. At first he missed Russel and moped about, roaming the city and watching it change with the times. Then he truly became protective of the young kids and teens that hung out at the store and other places. The gang that did the drive-by on him and the others were still roaming the streets trying to recruit teenagers into a life of crime. Sure some slipped through the cracks and learned that he couldn't control their fate. Del got some measure of revenge when some of the gang member were killed and he met their ghost forms. They'd always freak out and took delight in seeing them freak out even more when the Grim Reaper appeared to take them away to some unknown fate.  
  
The ghost knew about the second album and had even glided over to Harlem and The Apollo to see his old band preform. He was impressed that his friends got De la Soul, Marina Topley Bird, and even MF Doom on the album. He even marveled at how much Noodle had grown, and was stunned at Murdoc's green skin. Del even remembered how he saw the El Manana music video while sitting behind a kid who was a Gorillaz fan at an internet cafe. He cried and even expected her ghost to appear to him when she was ready. It never came. He didn't know that the guitarist was dragged to Hell and the band split up. The blue ghost didn't even know about the third album.  
  
So here he was now, leaning against the brick wall of the convenient store watching the people come and go as they please with snack in their hands. It had been this way for almost over ten years. The red and white jersey was gone and now replaced with a red and black one, on his feet were a pair of black Converse, and his head was covered with a red baseball cap. It had been pretty boring lately and he usually spent his time gliding around New York City seeing all the sights and stopping to look if something new was being built. Del was about the light up a cigarette when a blinding white light engulfed him.   
  
“What the hell?” Del now stood in a room with two people. He looked at them and saw one was the same angel that had greeted him years before and the other was the Leader himself.   
  
“Why am I here? Did I do somethin' wrong?”  
  
“No. You're here because you're wanted.” the angel spoke.  
  
“Wanted? By who?”  
  
“The Evangelist. I detected a distress signal only an hour ago. I found it and it's addressed to you my friend.”  
  
“Distress signal? The Evangelist? What the hell is goin' on?”  
  
“Why don't you hear for yourself.” The Leader had a crystal clear image of the Evangelist appear in front of Del.  
  
 _“Del help. You're friends are in danger...they will be killed if you do not help them...I only have a little power to send this message to you so help them before it's too late. I'm...here...in...Fee...ood...In...Hurry....”_  
  
At that, the message ended there and Del looked at the angel and Leader. “What kind of danger are they in?”  
  
The Supreme Being told the ghost about Murdoc and the Black Clouds and how he had deceived them. He told him all about Plastic Beach, album included, the Boogieman, and how Noodle was still alive and the drummer was now down to normal size. Del learned about who the Evangelist was as well. The Being told Dell that the leader of the Black Clouds is now after Murdoc and want his head on a silver platter so to speak.  
  
All of this confused the ghost as it was being explained but he basically got the understanding that the bassist pissed a bunch of people off and now someone was after his green ass. And that Noodle was still alive which made him happy. “I'll help them. Send me back to Kong, I'm ready.”  
  
“I cannot send you back to Kong.”  
  
“Why not?”  
  
“Because it is in shambles.”  
  
“Then does this mean I have to round everybody up?”  
  
“No, they're living in London. 212 Wobble Street.” The Being reached out a hand. “Russel will not have to zone out anymore for you to be present. He, Murdoc, 2D, Noodle, and Rei will be able to see you just as they did before. Good luck and God Speed.”  
  
Del was once again engulfed in a bright light and was sent down to Earth. He now stood in the room of his best friend. The floor was covered with brown carpet, an unkempt double bed was covered with magazines about music and a silver laptop, a big dresser lined one wall while a smaller one lined the other with a mirror hanging over it. Both dressers had various items on them, there was a trash can in the corner that was almost over flowing candy wrappers. He heard footsteps outside the door and looked up from admiring the room. The door opened and on the other side was the drummer carrying what looked like to be a slice of pie on a plate.  
  
Russel stopped when he saw the ghost. He dropped the plate sending it and the pie slice down to the carpet. This wasn't real he thought and his mind was playing a cruel joke on him or he must be dreaming. “Del?”  
  
“Yo man, long time no see.” the ghost smiled a little.  
  
Russ frowned. “I'm dreaming aren't I?”  
  
“Nope, this is all real.”  
  
“Can't be. You were exorcised from me. The demons in my head must be playing with me.”

Del shook his head and walked over to the big man. “Nah man, they're not. I swear to you I'm here and this is all true. The Big Man Upstairs sent me down here to help you, 'D, Mudz, Noodle, and Rei. Seems y'all in trouble. This person named the Evangelist sent me a distress call.”  
  
Russel tilted his head to the side. “The Evangelist sent you a distress call?”  
  
“Yeah man. Said that y'all are in grave danger and that somebody want to kill all of ya. Especially Mudz.”  
  
The drummer nodded. “Okay. I think I should get everybody. Hold on.” he stepped out of the room and called for the others. Rei, Murdoc, and Stu all came up the stairs to Russel's landing.  
  
“Whadda ya want Lards?” asked Murdoc who was puffing on his pipe.  
  
Russ just stepped aside and pointed into his room the three stepped into the doorway ad saw the blue ghost standing there clear as day. The bassist choked on the smoke from his pipe, Rei let out a squeak of surprise, and 2D's eyes widened to the size of saucers.   
  
“Russ...”  
  
“He's real Rei.”  
  
Rei couldn't believe her eyes. How was this possible? How was Del here in the house and how was the drummer still conscious?  
  
“Rei, how ya been girl? Well, I can't call you a girl no more can I ? You've grown into a woman.” Del grinned, his baritone voice reaching her ears.  
  
The shock wouldn't wear off quickly all together, but some of it waned away where the woman smiled and greeted her old friend. She smiled and walked into the room. “It's good seeing you again.”  
  
“Same here.”  
  
Del looked at the singer and greeted him as well. “Sup 'D?” then he looked to Murdoc who was still hacking. “Mudz."  
  
The bassist's eyes shifted form the ghost to the drummer. “You haven't been messin' with my books have you?”  
  
“No, I wouldn't go near those things. Tell 'em why you're here Del.”  
  
Del told them why he was there and he asked Murdoc what did he get him self into, and the green man gave a more detailed account of happened and what's currently going on including Noodle's nightmares then being kidnapped, and not knowing where she was taken. After all was said Del sat there in shock. He was pissed that Murdoc let El Manana happened, didn't prevent Noodle from being dragged to hell, and alienating his friends because of it, and almost getting killed from battle on Plastic Beach.  
  
“One thing I have to ask, why aren't y'all living in Kong? The angel said it was all in shambles.”  
  
Russ, Rei, and 2D all looked at Murdoc who looked back. He sighed not wanting to really tell Del why they weren't living in the huge building anymore but did anyway.  
  
“I burned it down.” Mumbled the green man.  
  
“S'cuse me?”  
  
“I said I torched it.”  
  
“You torched our home?” Del's eye twitched.  
  
“I need the money and the place had a huge insurance policy on it. I blamed the fire on a couple of kids so they couldn't trace it back to me. Besides the place was falling apart anyway after Noodle had disappeared so why not put it out of its misery.”  
  
Before the bassist could say some thing else, he was lifted by his ankle and turned upside down. “You dumbass! What's wrong with you? Ya lucky that we got bigger problems right now or I'd toss yo ass all the way back to the middle of the South Pacific.” Del unceremoniously dropped the musician and sat back down, and looked at the others. “I'll track down Noodle and see where she's been taken, Mudz you need to find more info on who this Marius person is beside knowing that he's the leader of the Black Cloud, and the rest of ya can still look for her. Check the casino after hours.”  
  
Murdoc stood to his feet. Now he had a name and more information about who was after him. Now he had to link Hannibal to this Marius guy and the Black Cloud. But a cold chill went through his body. To know that Hans was possibly working for them was in his mind unforgivable. Of course he knew that they were using him as a pawn to get to him and most likely will kill him. He'd save his brother only because he wouldn't wish the Clouds' wrath upon his own worst enemy. As he walked from Russel's room, he thought that after all this was over and done with, the whole gang can be back together once and for all. Just like old times.


	17. Lured

**Chapter 17**

**Lured**

When she was led into the van, Noodle was sedated and was driven to Feel Good Inc. where she was put into a hotel styled room. The sedative made her hallucinate and she thought that Hannibal was in the room with her trying to comfort her but when in reality, there was nobody there. Marius finally had the guitarist in his hands and he smiled at the sight of her. When the Black Cloud leader first came to greet her, Noodle had no idea who he was and when she asked, all he told her was that he was Hannibal's boss, and to not worry because she was in good hands.

Because of the guitarist's anger at her family still running through her veins she couldn't sense the real danger that she was in nor the danger of the man that would stand mere feet away from her. She was treated with kindness and like a guest. She had food, drink, and even the clothes she had come into the tower with were cleaned and washed, and returned back to her. Noodle had become somewhat of a recluse, staying in her room just staring out the big window that offered a view of the thick clouds that would roll in almost daily and the town below. She sensed something vaguely familiar about the town below and even the building itself, but couldn't put a finger on it.

.  
.  
.  
.  
.  
.

Meanwhile, Hannibal was on the phone with Marius and was freaking out a little because he didn't expect Murdoc to start suspecting that he may have something to do with Noodle's disappearance.

“....I'm tellin' ya, he's startin' to figure out what's going on. He thinks I know where his guitarist is which isn't true. Hold on....do you have her?”

“Yes, I have her.”

“How?” Hannibal asked, slight panic now starting to creep into his voice.

“I messed with her mind. I planted a seed and her fears from Hell came back to haunt her. She got so overwhelmed that she just walked out of her home and into my hands.”

Hannibal didn't exactly know what Marius was talking about but all he knew was that his brother couldn't find out that he was working for the Black Cloud. “Okay, so what do you want me to do?”

“If Murdoc is starting to uncover things then I'm just going to have to move my plans up. I have everything I need and just require the remaining players. You, my good sir are just going to point the man and his friends to the right direction.”

“And after I do that?”

“I'll give you your money and you can go back to Stoke-on-Trent and live the rest of your life as a very rich man or you can stick around and watch me send your brother to Hell.”

Hannibal wanted nothing more than to get paid the one million Pounds he was promised but seeing his brother get what he thought he deserved would be icing on the cake. He agreed to do Marius's bidding. The leader told him to tell Murdoc that he wanted to meet him and the others since he hadn't the time to do so before. Also to tell the bassist that the meeting wouldn't take place at the casino, but at his office and to just give them the address. After discussing more details, Hannibal hung up and smirked to himself. He'd watch Murdoc get killed and his baby brother would be out of his life forever. He even thought that why not take the man's woman as well just as an added bonus. He could be charming if he wanted to be and he could even have the rest of them in his back pocket to use as he saw fit.

* * *

Russel, 2D, and Rei were all let into the casino when it was just about empty except for the cleaning crew being around. The trio first searched the lower part of the building that contained storage spaces for the food and drink. Then there was a large wine cellar which they found nothing but what it held, the next place they searched was the second storage room that held regular alcohol and liquor.

The singer suggested that they look for any secret rooms or passages that may lead to Noodle. Russ told him that it was a bit far fetched but was willing to do anything to find the girl. The search turned up nothing and all were beginning to get frustrated. Hannibal wasn't around and neither were the people he seemed to keep close to him. The musicians did one final sweep just to see if they missed something, but no such luck. Returning home empty handed, the three told Murdoc that Noodle was nowhere in the building.

Not liking the answer he was given, the bassist believed that he had to revisit Hannibal and put more pressure on him to gain answers. He didn't care if he had to kidnap the man to do so. If it would get him what he wanted in the end then so be it.

“What did you find out about this Marius guy?” Russel eased his frame into a kitchen chair.

“Not a damned thing. The Clouds have this recruiting website and the only mention of the bloke's name is in the the history of the gang.”

“He wants to protect his identity.” said Rei who also sat down.

“It won't be protected for long 'cause I plan on exposing him.”

“Let's 'ope Del gets a location on where Noodle is then we can go to where ever she may be an' rescue 'er.”

Before Murdoc could respond, his cell rang. Picking it up and looking at the caller ID he saw that it was his brother then answered it. “What do you want Hans?”

“My boss wants to meet you and everyone else.”

“Like I'm supposed to believe you.”

“I'm serious Mudz, he wants to have a meeting.”

“About what?”

“The casino but wouldn't give me the details. Said that the conversation would be between you and him.”

“Okay, so when does your boss want to meet?”

“In three days. He has to go somewhere for that length of time but he'll be back on the third day.”

Murdoc thought for a moment the gave his answer. “Alright. What time does he want us at the casino?”

“You won't be going there, but will be going to his office that's outside of London.”

“Where?”

“I'll give you the address. Got a pen and pad?”

“Yeah.” the bassist grabbed a pen that was on the table and a post-it note.

“It's 23 Knight Road, Brentford. It's a big, tall brick building.”

“Fine. What time does he want us there?”

“9pm sharp. He doesn't like it very much when people are late.”

“We'll be there.”

“Good.” at that Hannibal hung up.

“This could be a set up Mudz.” stated Russel.

“That's why we're going there with protection just in case.” Murdoc looked at the three people. “So strap on what you can easily carry.”

* * *

Two days later, Del had gotten a lock on Noodle's and the Evangelist's “spiritual pressures” (that's what the angel told him to focus on when he was starting the search) He found the place where the Evangelist had said she was. He floated up to the top and as he did, he saw a multicolored neon sign flashing on and off and stopping momentarily to read it; Feel Good Inc. The ghost thought about the message that the fishbowl headed being said; Fee...ood...In...

Quickly putting two and two together, Del realized that this was the place that she was talking about. He hurried up to the top of the tower and easily phased through the glass and into the huge empty room. When he entered Del felt the spiritual pressure getting stronger so he followed it. Noodle's was the strongest and the dead man ended up following it to a room a down the hall. Going thru the door, he saw the purple-headed woman standing at the window staring out of it.

“Noodle?”

Noodle heard her name spoken and turned her head to see Del standing behind her. “Del?” she fully turned to face him.

“It's me.” Del saw that she had truly grown into a woman since the last time he saw her. In away he still saw her as that ten year old girl. “I'll explain later how I'm back and shit but right now I need to get you and this Evangelist person out of here. Y'all in danger and I'm here to take you home.”

Noodle shook her head. “I have no home. They all can't stand me especially Murdoc.”

“That's not true Noods. They all consider you family. Even Murdoc.”

“No they don't and I hate that green son of a bitch.” the woman sneered and turned her attention back to the window.

Del was taken aback by Noodle's admission that she hated the bassist. This wasn't her. “Hate him? Noodle I know you don't hate him.”

“Hai, I do. I suggest you save the Evangelist and go. There's only person that seems to understand me right now.”

“Who would that be?”

“Marius.”

“The head of the Black Cloud?”

“Nani? The Black Cloud? He's part of no gang. Murdoc, Rei, 2D, Russ,and I got rid of them at Point Nemo and we've all got the battle scars to prove it. Marius is a broker on the London Stock Exchange and a private investor.”

“He's lying to ya girl.”

“And how do you know?”

“Trust me, I just do. Would I ever lie to you? Now let's get out of here.”

“No. I am not going.”

“Yeah you are.”

“No I am not Del. I am staying here.”

Del sighed. “I'm gonna go an find the Evangelist and when I get back you're leavin' with us whether you like it or not. I ain't got no problem with forcefully removing you.” he left the room and kept his search for the Evangelist going. He made his way down and the the further he went the being's spiritual pressure increased. The ghost ended in a dungeon like basement that was underground. Del rounded a couple of corners until he found her. She was laying on a cot with her eyes closed. Gliding to her he reached her little cell and reached out to touch her but immediately pulled his hand back because of the magical electric shock he received.

“Dammit!”

The Evangelist was still weak and she turned her head to Del who she immediately recognized. Giving what looked like to be a weak smile she opened her mouth to speak. “Ah, you got my distress call...good.”

“I can't get to you 'cause somethin's preventing me.”

“Marius cast a spell on the cell. It keeps my power at a low so I won't be able to use it against him. But don't worry about me.”

“He's got Noodle.”

“What?!”

“She's in some room at the top of the building.”

“You need to get her out of here. She's bait to lure Murdoc.”

“I figured that but she won't go.”

“Marius put a spell on her to have her nightmares come back and intensify. It was to separate her from the others. As a matter of fact, he's going to take everybody one by one and bring them here. He's going to kill Murdoc.”

“I have to tell him then.”

“Tell them all to come armed physically and magically. I don't like saying this but leave Noodle. You all will be back for her. Hurry.”

Del hesitantly agreed and left the building the same way he came in. He didn't know that he had left a bit of himself on the faintly glowing circle underneath the window.

After returning to Wobble Street, Del told everybody what happened. In the end Murdoc threw a glass against the wall which shattered sending pieces to the floor and onto the counter top. The bassist didn't think that this would go so deep. Making up his mind he told everyone to get ready because first thing tomorrow morning, they all would have their final battle with the Black Cloud and he'd have Marius and Hannibal's head on a silver platter.

The battle to save a life and theirs would begin. 


	18. Darkest Hour: Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: Following chapter contains torture.

**Chapter 18**

**Darkest Hour: Part 1**

Early the next morning, Gorillaz made themselves ready for battle. Armed with a weapon of their choice, the five loaded into Stylo and drove off to where Noodle and the Evangelist was being held with Del and Cortez leading the way. When they arrived, the occupants of the car couldn't believe where they had ended up. It was an overcast day and rain threatened to pour down onto them. Some people took that as a bad sign or an omen of things to come.

“Here out of all places?” Russ looked at the building.

“I never would've thought we'd end up back here and to fight at that.” Rei looked up too. She and the others could only see so far up the tower until the clouds hid the rest.

Feel Good Inc. bought back of memories of a party that had seemed to go on too long even after shooting the titled music video. It had taken almost two weeks to get Murdoc to leave because he was enjoying the attention from the hired females that laid around and worshiped him during the video. No-one knew that the tower had been bought by Marius a year later after the video shoot. He had turned it into a swanky nightclub that only if a person had connections and money that they could get into the door.

The bassist grimaced at the place. Before they left Wobble St. he told the others that they would do the meeting with Marius and not show that they knew more than what Hannibal told them. He also said that he wanted to handle the Black Cloud leader and for them to find and get Noodle and the Evangelist out of their prisons. Del would lead them to the underground dungeon.

“Everybody ready?”

The musicians nodded and simply walked into the building. The foyer was small and had mirrors on both walls along with a table that held a small fake Ming vase with fake white chrysanthemums in it. Up ahead was the elevator that would take them up to Marius's office. Pressing the “up” button, the lift door opened with a ding and the five stepped inside. Del had went down to the prison to tell the Evangelist that Gorillaz had arrived.

Taking the lift up to the 125th floor the doors opened again to reveal a long corridor with a staircase at the end of it. Stepping out, Murdoc saw the double doors that led to the huge party room and figured that up the staircase that's where the office was. Leading the way, he climbed the two required flights and came into another hallway where there was another black double door. Going up to it, he knocked and in an instant it opened.

Stepping inside, the five stood in front of an oak desk that was polished to a shine. On it was a desk calendar along with other little nicknacks. Behind it was a large window that spanned from one wall to the other and a man standing in front of it.

“I could sense you all coming.” Marius' voice penetrated the room. He turned to face them and smiled. “So you are the ones that defeated my fleet at Point Nemo, killed my under boss, defeated Boogieman, and only left a few survivors. Rei, Stuart, Russel, and Murdoc. Of course I'd include Noodle but she seems to be not with you all at the moment. None the less, you're nothing but a ragtag team who got lucky.”

“Where is she Marius? Where's Noodle?” demanded Murdoc.

“You'll see her in due time but for now I just want to relish this moment of catching you so easily. Who would've thought that you Murdoc Niccals, one of the most selfish and seemingly uncaring men I've ever seen would come to the rescue of someone that he considers family. Oh but that's right she and they,” he nodded to the other four. “are considered your family. Shame, I think your brother Hannibal would be disappointed. You choosing flesh and blood over a group of people whom you've only known for a little over ten years? Tsk, tsk...shame.”

Murdoc sneered. “I don't give a fuck. Hannibal is a no good bastard who will get his after I'm done with you.”

“You won't be able to get a hold of your brother because you won't be alive to do so. And coming in here armed will not do you any good.”

The sound of guns being cocked was heard and from out of the shadows stepped men and women dressed in black aiming their guns at the group.

“Four of you disarm them and take them to the ballroom. You know what to do.” Marius ordered. “Oh, and your ghost friend and raven can't help you either.”

The four was disarmed and taken to the ballroom where Feel Good Inc. was shot. When they were ushered inside, they all noticed the Evangelist ad Del on one of the small stages bound by some magical spell. Both looked weak and tired. Looking further to their left they saw Cortez in a cage that was infused with a dark spell that made the bird seem petrified. All were then led to the main stage and noticed that Noodle was on the ground with a red pentagram underneath her. Russel, 2D, and Rei were led to their own pentagrams of the same color in front of the stage, and as soon as they were placed onto them, they felt like they were being magically bound to some invisible force and that their own energy was draining. Murdoc on the other hand was led up onto the stage and was made to stand on an even bigger one where the same effects took place.

“I'm going to enjoy hurting you Murdoc. You're going to watch your family suffer.” Marius came from behind the curtain and stood between the vocalist, drummer, the two guitarists, and the bassist. “I've already separated you all by putting a spell on Noodle so her nightmares would come back full force. And now she doesn't feel like you're her family anymore, and she hates you.” he glanced up at his captive who was struggling to get free. “You were never in control Niccals, I was. I linked myself to you so I'd know every move you made when it came to your spells. Remember that demon you summoned so you can find out the truth? Well I summoned it as well and offered it a better deal.” Marius looked at the pentagrams. “The pentagrams you all are standing on is made from your individual blood and there's no way any of you can break it.”

Murdoc's eyes widened. He knew that anybody standing on a blood pentagram could either be saved or doomed, and in this situation he and the others were possibly doomed. When they were in the office, the bassist spotted Marius's silver inverted cross around his neck. Automatically he knew that he was a Satanist just like him but didn't know the extent of his power as he was soon to find out.

“Enough talk.” Marius looked at Murdoc. “I'm going to start out light then get to the heavy stuff.” He raised his hand to Russel, Rei, 2D, and Noodle saying something and soon little cuts formed all over their bodies.

The four members hollered in pain as blood stained their arms, legs, face and clothing. This went on for a few minuets until the cutting stopped.

Murdoc didn't know what to do and he knew that the only way to disrupt the circle was to break its seal but there was no foreseeable way to break them because everyone's feet was firmly planted to the ground.

“Stop it,” growled Murdoc.

“No. I'm just getting.” Marius raised a hand to the bassist and gave the same treatment to him only making it last longer.

.  
.  
.  
.  
.

Hannibal got his money and was packing his things to go back to Stoke. He figured that he'd go back there, hide the money and lay low for a while. But first he did want to see his baby brother get sent to Hell as Marius had put it. So he finished packing along with a few extra items in his large suitcase and left the apartment building and told one of the bodyguards to take him to the tower so he could watch the downfall of one Murdoc Alphonse Niccals. 


End file.
